The Devil in the Pale Moonlight
by Grim Goodbye
Summary: One has only known misery and suffering the other is always happy and loving. One is known as a monster the other is loved by her village. One wants to forget everything the other will always remember How can two people so different be so similar? GaaraOC
1. Enter Katsura

Disclaimer: Naruto and characters belong to Kishimoto

"Talking"

'_**Shukaku talking'**_

'_thinking'_

**The Devil in the Pale Moonlight**

Chapter 1: Enter Katsura

The sun rose high over the bleak desert landscape, the radiation from the sun alone could boil ones blood and heat up the skin to unbearable temperatures. A warm breeze blew across the vast and desolate grounds gently pushing the hair of the two strangers out of their faces. Two figures walked across the desert with one goal in mind, one was a male dressed in a typical ninja attire with black pants and a black shirt, he wore a chunin vest from Konoha and had his hair tied up in a pointy tail with the end sticking out everywhere. He sighed out of boredom and turned to his partner.

"Troublesome" Shikamaru whispered, then he spoke louder "Why must we deliver a scroll to Suna? its a simple mission a genin team could do it." He sighed as they continued walking across the desert.

"Come on" The other spoke cheerfully "The Hokage chose us to deliver this very important treaty to Suna so we must continue no matter what" She smiled way to brightly for Shikamaru's taste. But that was Katsura for you always way to cheerful for anyone to be around. Perhaps she was even more cheerful the Rock Lee but at least she wouldn't ramble of about youth and such. Maybe that was why she didn't have very many friends the only people she was ever sen around was Shikamaru, Naruto and Lee but that is another story.

Right now the Lazy Genius was trying to ignore his companion's bright attitude that completely contradicted her attire. She wore her usual black short skirt with shorts that reached her knees, on her chest was a black fishnet top that reached her elbows and a black tank top she also had black fingerless gloves that were given to her by her senpei. Her ninja shoes were also black as well as her Konoha forehead protecter that adorned her forehead. She had a holster on her right thigh for weapons and a black sword strapped her to her back. Needless to say she liked black for some reason.

She had light brown hair that reached her shoulders and was a bit spiky at the end, her bags were held down by her forehead protector. They were also spiky but they were long enough to be pushed to the left so they covered the side of her face and sometimes her eye, but she didn't really care.

She turned from Shikamaru and his bored expression while they walked, yes WALKED to Suna. She was still angry that Tsuande told her she was not to run in the desert. The trip would take way to long and the needed to arrive within two hours, so she got an idea and turned to her friend.

"Shikamaru…" She started sweetly, he turned knowing what was to come " you know we only have a few miles left until we reach Suna why don't we run the rest of the way?" She smiled hoping and placed her hand together under her chin and looked up at him.

"That would not be a good idea, I mean with your illness acting up and all, it would be too troublesome" He responded not even looking at her.

She knew her friend was right, he was one of the few people her knew about her condition and she wanted to keep it that way, she didn't others to know how weak she really was. She could still remember the day when she met him only a few years back.

_Flashback_

_Katsura and her team had just arrived at the waiting room for the chunin exams. Jubei stood at her left, he was a mediocre fighter but thought he was the greatest thing that has ever graced the earth he was well built and wore black pants and a tight black shirt with a white skull on it. On her right was Gemma he was quiet and reserved he barely fought offensively unless provoked he was on the lean side as a contrast to Jubei but was still very strong, he wore white pants a long black trench coat that reached it knees and covered his neck. In the group Katsura stuck out the most because she wore blue pants and a red shirt. It was their first time entering the chunin exams even though they graduated the year before, Jubei was still amazed that Katsura graduated with them because she was two years younger then the other two. _

_The room was filled with an array of Genin from all the hidden villages in the world, they were all here, Leaf, Stone, Sand, Mist, Rain, Clouds, Grass, Waterfall and Sound. Katsura's eyes shifted around the room looking for him, that boy she met yesterday. Unfortunately he could not be found anywhere in the crowd. Sighing she and her teammates sat down in the nearest seats available, Katsura's mind was racing about the exams wondering what would happen during them and if she was good enough to be a chunin at such a young age. _

"_Look" Jubei spoke bringing Katsura out of her trans. He was pointing to the door where a group of students stood talking with each other, all were Konoha ninjas. _

"_So…" Gemma spoke in a voice barley over a whisper "All the rookies are entering this year" _

"_Ha I bet none of them will even make it past the first round" Jubei laughed arrogantly_

_When the group dispersed a young boy came and sat down next to Katsura and reclined his head slightly while he closed his eyes. "Troublesome" was all he said._

_Katsura laughed quietly at the strange boy next to her. He glanced at her slightly annoyed. _

"_Tell me about it, with this jerk" she pointed her thumb at Jubei then crossed her arms over her chest. "It will be more then troublesome, by the way I'm Katsura" she said not making an effort for a handshake._

"_Shikamaru" the boy simply said._

_End Flashback_

Ever since that day she had become friends with the lazy genius and had gone on quite a few missions with him. He also introduced her to his friends but she become the closest with Rock Lee and Uzumaki Naruto not that she didn't like that others but she had more of a connection with these two then anyone else. She pushed all her thoughts aside, the only way they were going to make it to Suna on time was running and Katsura had a plan.

"Shikamaru" He turned to face his companion "Race you to the gates"

With that she sped off toward their goal. Shikamaru rolled his eyes and chased after her muttering something about a troublesome woman.

XXXXX

About an hour and a half later the arrived at the gates in front of Suna, the Country of the Wind. Katsura smiled at Shikamaru who arrived shortly after her.

"Now who said it wouldn't be a good idea to run?" She said jokingly but stopped abruptly by a few coughs that escaped her throat. Shikamaru looked slightly worried but she smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry I'm fine"

They walked over to the gate to alert the guards who stood there ever alert anticipating their arrival.

"We are here from Konoha to deliver a scroll to the Kazekage" Katsura spoke calmly with a smile on her face.

"Ah! yes" One of the guards spoke up looking through some papers "We were not expecting you for quite some time, the Kazekage may not be in yet"

"That's fine" Katsura smiled and pulled Shikamaru though the gates into Suna.

XXXXX

**Thats chapter one! sorry no Gaara yet but i promise he will be in the next chapter but i need to set up the story first and the other chapters will be longer also but for now I wanted to introduce my OC Katsura. Also anyone who can name the movie the title comes from will win something!!! *note: no prize actually won, i am broke and cannot afford anything***


	2. Arrival in Suna

Thank you to fanny-kun for my first review. Whoo!!! I am so happy that people are actually reading my story ~does happy dance~ I felt so inspired to post the next chapter and yes it has Gaara.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto nor will I ever. That is why its called fan fiction

"Talking"

'_**Shukaku talking'**_

_**Thinking**_

**Singing**

**The Devil in the Pale MoonLight**

Chapter 2: Arrival in Suna

Katsura raced around the busy bizarre looking from shop to shop, in all the excitement she had forgotten about the heat that surrounded her. She was looking for the perfect souvenir to bring home for her collection, ever since she became a chunin and traveled more she always bought something from where ever she went and this was her first time in Suna so she wanted the perfect gift to remember her travels.

Shikamaru was long gone, he was in fact a guy so he didn't want anything to with women and their troublesome shopping habits as he puts it. Katsura was trying to find where he disappeared to when a something on a small cart caught her eye. She looked over the necklace in awe. It was a simple silver crescent moon on a silver chain, something about it was so alluring, it was made for her.

"See anything you like?" the shopkeeper asked kindly

She smiled back at him "Yes how much for this necklace?" she pointed at the jewelry

"Well… for a nice girl like you. I can go as low as $500" (A/N: I don't know the yen conversion rate so i am working in dollars)

Katsura frown at this she didn't have that much to spend and there would be no telling when her next mission was so spending money she had no way of replenishing was not an option. "Sorry, I cannot afford that" she politely answered the man.

"I can't offer anything else" He apologized to the leaf nin.

" I understand, thank you anyway" With that Katsura let to find her partner that seemed to have wandered off.

She walked around town taking in all the sights, it was quite breath taking. It looked so different then Konoha. All the building were tanned and looked as if they were made of some type of clay. They were decorated tastefully with a few banners or flags of the various clans and such. The ground was covered in sand with a few cactus and other desert plants so that wasn't as pleasing as the streets of the hidden leaf but she though the look suited the town well. She scanned the area once more to find Shikamaru, she was about to jump on one of the roofs to look for him when she saw somebody lying on the sand dune not too far from her self. If she knew Shikamaru, which she did, she should have looked there sooner. Walking over to her friend she smiled as he looked up at the sky. She laughed at this sight.

"Sorry but there aren't any clouds here, its the desert it doesn't rain very much" She extended her hand for him to grab and waited. Reluctantly he grasp her hand and pulled him self off the ground letting some sand roll off the back of his uniform. "Come on we are due at the Kazekage tower soon"

Katsura started walking ahead to indicate for him to follow. She stopped abruptly and covered her mouth as she coughed a bit harder then normal. Shikamaru placed a hand on his shoulder to comfort her.

"I'm fine, probably just sand in my lungs or something" She smiled at him and started to walk in the direction of the tower. She was determined to finish this mission before anything happens.

XXXXX

Gaara emerged from his office in a rather irritable mood. He had yet another long lonely night of solitude. The demon inside him still has not allowed him a night of sleep, he lives in fear of the Shukaku because if he emerges he will destroy everything Gaara has worked hard to protect. It would also confirm to the villagers that he is the monster they all know him as.

Gaara slowly walked down stairs to see Kankuro sitting on the couch fettling with one of his many puppets. Temari on the other hand was no where to be seen.

"Hey Gaara…" Kankuro trailed off noticing the glare he was receiving form his younger brother. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat waiting for the younger of the two to move. Kankuro was no longer afraid of his younger counterpart but he knew better then to mess with Gaara when he was in a bad mood. That was almost as stupid as bothering Temari was she was pissed, only that was more fun.

Gaara finally moved passed his brother towards the kitchen before he had to start his long day at the Kazekage tower. He knew some ninjas from Konoha would be arriving later and he wanted to be prepared for his allies. After Suna's betrayal during the Chuunin exams two years ago he wanted to show the Fire country the Wind was grateful for their forgiveness shortly after.

Temari's blonde head poked around the corner from the Kitchen. Kankuro's eyes widened in surprise at his older sister's obvious good mood this morning, which is unusual.

"Gaara, Kankuro" She smiled widely "I made Breakfast, do you want some?" she asked hopefully

Kankuro shot up muttering something about his puppets and dashed off slamming the door to his workshop. Temari glared at the shut door then turned to Gaara who stood there looking as if he was contemplating something. Taking this temporary distraction she put on her best pleating smile, "Gaara, do you want breakfast?"

"No" he simply said before he slammed the front door to go to the tower.

XXXXX

Katsura and Shikamaru enter the the tower, Shikamaru looked bored as per usual while Katsura's eyes darted all around the tower looking at all the halls and decorations until her eyes fell upon a bored looking secretary. The Secretary sat at a large desk and she was doodling on a paper. Katsura though she should be doing work instead of goofing off but that was probably a sign the Kazekage was not in just yet. They walked up to her and waited until she reluctantly looked at them.

"We are the ninjas from Konoha here to see the Kazekage" Katsura said, she was expecting some reply but instead the secretary was looking at Shikamaru with a weird look in her eye.

"Yeah, Yeah" She waved off Katsura and turned once more to the lazy leaf nin. "So what's your name?" She asked placing the end of her pencil on her bottom lip. Shikamaru cocked an eye brow at her, he wasn't used to this attention _"Why must girls resort to making them look like hookers before they ask a guy out, they are confusing and way too troublesome" _Shikamaru thought before looking at Katsura who looked way too amused for this situation.

"_god this is the worst flirting I have ever seen in my life" _Katsura chuckled lightly before deciding to have a bit of fun with this bimbo who dared to act all slutty to her best friend.

"Well If he's not here yet we will wait" She turned to Shikamaru who was trying to ignore the obvious advances at him. "Is the okay, Shika-kun?" He glared at her for using his much hated nick name but he let it slip this time when he saw the secretary backed off a bit.

She turned around to see some chairs where she and Shikamaru can wait. When they were seated and awkward silence befell the group. Katsura was bored and Shikamaru took this opportunity to sleep as he always did. _"Why do I insist on doing missions with him again? all he does is sleep" _Katsura looked at the secretary desk once more and noticed the secretary still glancing at Shikamaru every now and then. Katsura thought it was weird, she never really known anyone to like Shikamaru, sure she thought Ino had a thing for him but she thought she would end up with Choji because they were so opposite and would make a cute couple. Other then that no one really paid attention to him romantically. She looked at him once more, yes he had cute face and a great body because after all he was a ninja. But she couldn't see him actually dating that thought creeped her out, he was like the older brother she never had and he was probably too lazy to get a girlfriend anyway. She coughed as quiet as she could but the secretary glared at her.

"_Well maybe I could still have fun with her" _Katsura thought evilly. The secretary started doodling once more but tapped her pencil when she stared at the paper in frustration. Katsura started tapping her foot and the sound echoed through the quiet halls. The secretary paused to glare hatefully at the annoying kunochi. She started to tap her pencil loudly to cover the sound of the offending foot. Knowing that she wanted Katsura to stop, said person tapped her foot louder as if it were a challenge. The tapping sounds echoed though the corridors of the Kazekage tower. The secretary cleared her throat and tapped her pencil even louder Katsura started to increased the sound of her foot steps but stopped when she heard a small creak indicating some one had opened the door.

"Must you continue that incessant tapping." a cool monotone voice broke through affectingly stopping all noise in the area. The secretary hung her head and muttered an apology. She glared at Katsura who looked at her innocently, if she were a ninja instead of a secretary she would have heard the noise that indicated of a new arrival.

That voice caught Katsura's attention first it sounded so calm and collected but also harsh, it was a familiar voice to say the least. She looked at the man who just entered the room. He had hair like flames, blood red and unkept. His skin was irregularly pale for someone who lives in the desert but it was smooth and looked soft. He had black circles around his eyes and a red "ai" tattooed on his fore head. She recognized who he was exactly. He was Gaara, that boy she met two years ago.

_Flashback_

"_Where is it" Kakashi was searching the book shelf intensely looking for the next copy of his beloved book. He saw the spot where it should have been but noticed it was empty, sighing he turned from away from the self in the open market to see a red and blue blur nearly crashing in to him but it missed and tripped over the trash cans. Slowly the energetic figure stood up and smiled widely while her face became red out of embarrassment. _

"_Where are you going in such a rush Katsura-chan?" Kakashi smiled at the young girls antics. Even though she was a ninja she was still a child and often acted like so. _

"_Gomen Kakashi-Sempei, I was in a rush to make it home." She apologized and bowed respectfully "I was on my way home to tell my parents that Hiro-sensei nominated my team for the chuunin selection exams this year." She blurted out in excitement. She smiled at Kakashi waiting for a reply, he smiled back at her. "Even though we didn't compete last year i think we could actually pass, well I know Gemma and I could but I'm worried Jubei might not" Her excitement fell a bit._

"_Why is that?" Kakashi asked. _

"_Well he tends to get cocky and it goes to his head, he is always talking back to Hiro-sensei so I am afraid that he wont pass and I would like for my whole team to pass so we can still go on missions together." She answered sadly. Katsura had only two friends and those were her team mates, Although she was kind not many kids would want to befriend her because of her condition. _

"_You know meeting new people could have it benefits" Kakashi said matter-of-factly. He wanted Katsura to be happy and have a normal life, well as normal of a life for a shinobi but with her sickness it was hard, she was in the hospital quite often though her visits started to become less frequent as she gets older. _

"_Your right Kakashi-sempei, During the Chuunin exams I will introduce myself to at least…"She placed her finger on her chin thoughtfully, she wanted to set goal that was reachable but at the same time something that would force herself out of her shell. "at least 5 people." _

_Kakashi's visible eye curved into an arch indicating he was smiling under his mask. "Is your father a prompter for the exams this year?" he asked changing the subject before she changed her mind._

"_Yes he is, he probably wont tell me what he is doing though. I can't have an unfair advantage over the competition." She answered. "I do have a question for you Kakashi-sempei"_

"_Oh and what is that" _

"_Why do you always carry around a book? I always see you with that orange book what is it about?" She pointed at the book he took out of his pouch (A/N i don't know what they are called so bear with me) _

_Kakashi grabbed his chin thoughtfully figuring out the right word to explain it. He couldn't exactly tell her what the book was, she was only twelve and her mom would kill him if she found out. "Its a romance book"_

_Katsura giggled, she didn't know that he was a romantic at heart it seemed really out of place. you wouldn't think a guy who has killed hundreds of enemy ninja reads romance books but to each his own. "Its mainly to keep my mind sharp." Kakashi said slightly in annoyance at the young genin _

"_Oh I get it!" Katsura exclaimed "When you read you train the mind to keep it sharp so when you go on mission you can think clearer" Katsura turned to the book shelf they were standing n front of and picked a book off the shelf after scanning the back cover she smiled and gave the money to the man at the cash register. "If you read to keep your mind sharp and you are a great ninja I will read to become a great ninja" She smiled and clutched her book to her chest. Kakashi smiled at her naivety._

"_Well I must be off, I have things to do before I meet my team." Kakashi waved then disappeared into a puff of smoke. Katsura coughed and waved her hand to clear the smoke away, she didn't want it to get in her lungs then she would get sick before the exams and let her team down._

_She started walking away clutching her book, she opened it to the front page and started reading while she walked back home, she didn't want to risk crashing into anything again. As she walked she heard voices arguing in front of her. She glance up at the group a few yards in front of her and ducked behind the corner of the fence. She looked cautiously at the group trying to figure out what was going on. She saw Kakashi's students, a pink haired girl and a blonde boy, she knew he was Naruto, the boy who was forced to be a container for the Kyuubi. Konohamaru, the Hokage's grandson, was being help up by a boy who was wearing purple makeup on his face. A blonde girl with something attached to her back was standing there bored at what was going on. Naruto charged at the makeup boy but before he reached a rock flew through the air and hit make up boy in the wrist making him relinquish his grip on the young child. _

"_Sasuke-kun!" The pink hair girl screeched toward the tree. Katsura looked in that direction and saw a boy with midnight black hair sitting in the tree smirking at the two newcomers. Katsura then looked at the Makeup boy who was fuming at this point, she noticed that they had sand forehead protecters on indicating they were here for the chuunin exams. _

"_Another guys who pisses me off" Makeup boy seethed_

"_Get lost" the boy who was addressed as Sasuke said rather arrogantly. Katsura rolled her eyes at this, he acted just like Jubei smug and arrogant. _

"_Hey punk. Get down here" Makeup boy said "I hate show offs like you the most" Katsura smiled at him, he didn't seem like such a bad guy if he hated people who show off just like she did. She noticed he took something off his back and was preparing himself yo attack when a cold monotone voice broke through. _

"_Kankuro stop it" Katsura looked around for the source of the voice but was slightly disappointed when she found it came from the other side of the tree. She liked this voice his was cold and angry but slightly hurt she felt the urge to find this person and hug him but she didn't think that would be a good way to greet someone she didn't know. _

"_You are a disgrace to our village" That same voice spoke once more sending a shiver down Katsura's spine, something about his voice made her want to see him. The boy clad in makeup, or now Kankuro, was sputtering some excuses and apologizing but was abruptly cut off._

"_Shut up, I'll kill you" Katsura swooned at this. She couldn't help it, there was something about his murderous intent that had Katsura in a puddle in the middle of the street. She would make it a point that the first person she meets would be this boy. She looked once more at the group and saw the person behind that voice. He was a short kid who was very pale and had red hair that was wild, like fire, it matched his personality so well. He had dark circles outlining his eyes that made the sea foam green stand out even more. A crimson tattoo adorned his forehead reading the word 'Love'. Katsura frowned when she saw this maybe he was already in love with some one and got the tattoo for her. The raven haired boy jumped down from the tree and ran up to the sand villagers. _

"_What's your name?" He pointed to the flame headed boy_

"_Are you talking to me?" The blonde girl asked hopefully_

"_No, the one with the gourd" he replied _

"_Sabuku no Gaara, and I am interested in you" He said as he eyed the boy in front of him coldly. _

"_I'm Uchiha Sasuke" _

_Katsura froze upon hearing his name, he was that last Uchiha. Katsura felt her heart pain for this guy, she heard about what happened to the Uchiha clan years ago. If she had to go through that she wouldn't be sane. _

"_Don't you want to know my name?" The blonde kyuubi kid shouted way too loudly_

"_Not Interested" Gaara answered before walking off the other two sand villages following behind in silence. Katsura suppressed a chuckle when he answered, she wanted to meet him but was afraid of what would happen. She looked back at Sasuke, Naruto and the pink haired girl who were talking about something. If the Uchiha kid could still make friends after what happened then there is nothing stopping her. She raced off on the other side of the fence so she arrived at the end before the sand villages did. She leaned against the fence and took out her book so if she lost her nerve she could always say she was reading. Out of the corner of her eye she could see them silently approaching. Once they passed her she got a new resolve and calmly spoke. _

"_I saw what you did to Naruto" Her eyes never left the book but a small smirk crossed her lips, she felt a new energy come out when she spoke this time._

"_Who?" The makeup boy turned to ask her. _

"_The blonde loud mouth" She simply said finally looking up at three. _

"_You know him?" The blonde girl asked incredulously _

"_Only by name and acquaintance. Everyone knows directly or indirectly of Konoha's number one hyperactive knucklehead ninja" Katsura explained using Kakashi's nickname for him. _

"_Long title" The girl joked._

"_Long title for a long winded boy" Katsura chuckled._

"_So what do you care what we do to him" Kankuro asked a little to harshly for Katsura to like, _

"_I don't really, although my senpei would be a bit mad if anything happened to him he is their teacher after all." She closed her book and put it into her pouch then stood off the fence. "I just used it as an excuse to introduce myself, I'm Gekko Katsura." _

_Kankuro looked her up and down which made Katsura uncomfortable no guy has ever bother to check her out before and now a person she barely knew was looking at her making it a point that she knew what he was doing. I mean she was only twelve and this boy was only a bit older then her._

"_I'm Kankuro" He grabbed Katsura's and placed a kiss on it gently. He looked up and smirked at her "Nice to met you Kat" _

"_Don't call me that" She yelled peeved as she yanked her hand back, she hated childish nicknames._

"_Baka" The girl smacked Kankuro upside the head before turning to Katsura "You'll have to excuse my brother, I'm Temari" She smiled at Katsura._

_Katsura looked at the youngest of the three. "And you are…" She trailed off waiting for him to fill in the rest . He blinked in astonishment, no one looked him directly in the eyes not since he was a child and here was a girl who was actually foolish enough to do so. _

"_Gaara" he simply answered not bothering to give his full name he knew that she heard him say it to the Uchiha. Katsura continued to look into his eyes while he glared dangerously at her. She knew she should look away, something told her to stop looking at this kid because now he had a hint of murderous intent behind those broken eyes but she could not bring herself to brake contact with this boy. Temari glanced between the two as nervousness plagued her face, Gaara could not kill anyone now it would ruin everything. So she was left with no choice but to break the silence and face Gaara's wrath later. _

"_Well we must be off, our sensei is expecting us" She pushed Kankuro foreword hoping to leave before anything happened. _

"_See you around Kat" Kankuro shouted over his shoulder before walked off. _

"_Don't call me that" She broke eye contact with Gaara to shout at his retreating back. She looked at Gaara once more before he turned to walk with his siblings. 'Sabuku no Gaara, I like his name I will have to see him while he is in town' Katsura thought evilly while she took out her book and started to walk home, her parents will just have to deal with her being late._

XXXXX

**Chapter 2 is done, I know its mostly a flash back but its shows more of Katsura's personality as a child and how she was different then present time in the story. I am happy I got one review that is better then i thought. Also thank you to those who put my story on their story alerts it awesome that people are really reading my story. I am still waiting to see if anyone knows what movie has the quote which inspired the title for this story, if no one gets it by next chapter then I will give you a hint. **

**Next Chapter: What will be Katsura's reaction to a more grown up Gaara? What will his reaction be when he sees Katsura once more? When will this story get interesting? hey thats not very nice. who put that in the script?!?! **

**Please Review, Arigato**

**~Grim Goodbye**


	3. The Attack

Thank you fanny-kun once again for reviewing and also jokermask but I know I have more then two readers because a few of you put this story on their alerts list, now I am glad for that, but please review and tell me what to improve on I want to become a better writer so my stories will be more interesting so please do me a favor and sent in a review, flame or not I don't care. Although if you do flame and not give any reasons for example 'you suck' that would not be helpful tell me why I suck. Thank you.

Disclaimer: I don't own so you don't sue.

**The Devil in the Pale Moonlight**

Chapter 3: The Attack

Katsura locked eyes once more with the red headed boy from her past. Time had certainly done wonders for him. He no longer wore a murderous glare but one of annoyance. He grew taller maybe not as tall as other guys his age but it was taller then before. He also filled out a bit more though he was still on the lean side. His hair was longer but still just as red and untamed. His skin was still very pale, especially for some one who has lived in the desert their whole life. Katsura smiled at her long time friend, it has been a while since she saw him but his stoic expression remained the same through their years of absents.

Gaara looked at her… there was no mistaking who it was. It was that girl from the chuunin exams that constantly followed and annoyed him the entire time he was in Konoha. She looked almost the same except for the fact she was now wearing only black instead of the red and blue she wore when he first met. She did look a bit less pale then the last time.

"Gaara?" She asked just to be sure

"What are you going here?" He calmly spoke. Katsura noted the was he spoke was less threatening.

"I'm here to see the Kazekage" She smiled once more at her old friend.

Gaara just simply nodded and walked down one of the halls leaving a very puzzled Katsura standing behind. After she got her brain to start working once more she ran after the red headed shinobi, lightly she tapped him on the shoulder awaiting for an acknowledgment. Gaara stopped walking as soon as he felt a timid hand touch his shoulder, he didn't turn around but turned his head slightly so she was visible out of his peripheral vision.

"Gaara its been a long time since we have seen each other or even spoken. Perhaps when you are done with your business we can meet to catch up" Katsura asked smiling slightly hoping for a good response. Instead all she heard was a mumbled "perhaps" before he continued down the hallway. She watched him slowly start to leave until, abruptly he turned to a door and reached to open it when she noticed it was the door to the Kazekage's office. Katsura's eyes widened in surprise _"Why is he going into the Kazekage's office unannounced? That can only mean one thing. He is going to get in trouble" _She thought without really thinking. Just as his hand reached the side to slid the door open she smacked his hand playfully. He glared at the girl who dared to hit him even if it was in jest.

"You shouldn't do that unless you want to be in trouble" She informed him

By this time Shikamaru had woken up and was watching the scene unfold in front of him, as soon as Katsura smacked Gaara he knew he wouldn't be alive for much longer. _"Well I'd like to say it was nice know that troublesome woman" _Shikamaru shook his head lightly before a thought was dawned on him. Katsura was not harmed when she made contact with Gaara's skin. _"I thought he always had sand around him to protect him" _

Gaara looked at the annoying girl who had actually hit him, she had no trace of apology on her face only that of amusement. Katsura had an easy face to read she didn't have very many emotions that didn't include a smile. Gaara faced the door once more and slid it open fast so she could not protest, he walked inside once again leaving a silenced Katsura behind. She stood next to the office worried for the sand boy but when nothing came from the office she peeked inside where she saw Gaara slipping on the Kazekage robes before taking a seat at the lone desk covered in paperwork. Laughing nervously Katsura entered the office waiting for a response from the only other occupant in the room. Her cheeks and nose took on a red hue from embarrassment as she scratched her head thinking of the right words to say.

"I take it your the Kazekage then" She said not looking Gaara directly in the eyes

A slight smirk appeared on Gaara's face, though it really could not be seen, when he noticed the uneasiness in her voice. "yes I am" was all he needed to say before he noticed a slight waver in her appearance before going back, if one was not a trained ninja then it would have been completely unnoticeable but being the best shinobi in Suna he was saw her change, although it could be argued if it was was really present. She looked sad in the brief moment he answered her but it was so out of place and was gone all too quickly, Gaara just shrugged if off thinking he may have not even see it all. Katsura's face was once again taking a red shade as the silence between them extended, the color seemed brighter then it should have been cast on her pale skin. Shikamaru finally strolled into the office wandering if his partner was still breathing or not. Upon sensing her distress he pulled out a scroll and extended it towards the red headed Kazekage. Gaara accepted the scroll and looked it over.

"How long will it take to get the councils approval Gaara-sama?" Katsura prodded hesitantly trying to take the embarrassment off herself.

"A few hours to a few days" He answered emotionlessly. Katsura frowned she wanted to return to Konoha to train, once again a smile appeared on her face as another plan dawned on her.

"Gaara-sama would it be okay for myself and Shikamaru to train while in the village" Her smile widened as if to convince him to say yes.

"Hai.. you may" He answered his face not changing

Shikamaru glared at her, training while on a mission was way too troublesome, there is no way he would go out into this hot desert sun to train with Rock Lee's alter ego. He sighed she would not let him live it down if he backed out to a woman so he would just have to defeat her quickly with not much effort, such an easy task for him.

Silence stretched on between the three making Katsura very uncomfortable, she liked to talk and she was always with Naruto, silence was not something she could stand. She decided to make some conversation seeing now that she may not see Gaara again until it was time to leave.

"So.. your Kazekage now?" Katsura started uneasily "How is that like?"

"Fine" Gaara replied indifferently

"How are your siblings, have they gotten better?" She asked wanting to hear about any exciting missions or maybe any gossip of their love life. They were after all old enough to get married now.

"Hai" Katsura paused after his answer raising an eyebrow but decided to continue, maybe he didn't want to take about them.

"Umm...been up to any thing interesting?" She asked trying a different approach.

"No" silence… maybe one more try.

"Are you seeing anyone, I mean girls must be lining up to date the Kazekage" People would always talk about their love life to know end, she had to get some type of response from him.

"No"

"Are you going to give me any good answers" She joked knowing she would get nothing.

"Hn"

"_This is hopeless, I have a better chance of seeing Kakashi-sempai's face then I do getting a conversation from him" _Katsura sighed in frustration, seriously how hard is it to answer a few questions to let her know what is going on. They haven't spoken in a little over 2 years and all he can say is freakin' one word at a time.

"Well we will return again once we are called upon" She informed him in a professional tone that not even Shikamaru knew she was capable of. She decided not to further bother him while he was working, who knows how much paper work he had to get done today, and if it was anything like the Hokage it was a lot.

As she turned to leave she felt a once again familiar sensation in her lungs, she tried her best to ignore it and wait until she fully left the office but her body thought differently. She let a few coughs escape her throat, it wasn't anything that she wasn't used to so she just continued to leave. She coughed a few more times a bit harder now this was not looking good. Gaara just looked at her slightly confused, if she was sick why did Tsunade-sama send her? Shikamaru placed a supporting hand on her shoulder hoping to help her but she would have none of it.

"I'm fine" She lied through her teeth feeling the ever familiar burning sensation filling her lungs.

She coughed uncontrollably now and it was way to hard to be considered her normal sickness, she was having a full fledged attack. She gripped her chest in attempt to stop herself but failing miserably, he free hand covered her mouth but felt something strange. She looked at her hand, it was covered in blood. Great now she was coughing up blood in front of the leader of another allied village, way to make Konoha look weak. She fell to her knees shaking the last thing she remembered was a pair of strong arms gripping her waist until all was darkness.

XXXXX

"_Why does it feel like I'm being eaten by something soft and fluffy? And why the hell does my face feel wet?" _Katsura thought groggily, the last ting she remembered was having one of her coughing episodes at the Kazekage office. _"Kuso, now they all know how weak I really am"_

She managed to pull her self up to a sitting position a wash rag slid down her face explaining her prior confusion of her wet face. She glanced around the room, it was simple white plain and boring. Katsura had an urge to drawn on the walls just so there would be some type of color in the room. She was laying, or now sitting against the headboard of a large comfy bed with white sheets and several pillows. Her sword was leaned on the night stand next to the bed with her forehead protector laying on her weapons pouch. She knew she was some where safe with her weapons no nearby it make her more at ease. The room also had two doors, one obviously led out of the room because it was open and a hall way could be seen the other was closed and she couldn't really go exploring right now.

Footsteps echoed in the Hallway indicating someone was approaching at a slow pace. Instincts took over and Katsura reached over for her sword, slowly grasping the scabbard she picked it up but in her weaken state it felt much heavier then it should have been. She placed the heavy sword across her lap and waited she would not be caught off guard if anything should happen. A figure stepped into the open door and light flooded the room blinding Katsura for a second, when her vision returned she saw a black kimono and four blonde ponytails. She recognized the older sand kunochi immediately.

"Temari?" She asked though her voice was harsh from all the coughing previously

She could still taste the blood in her mouth, something she was used to. Temari sat down on the bed next to the sick girl and placed the sword leaning against the wall, in the same spot prior to Katsura grabbing it. She help up a small bowl filled with water which Katsura drank affectively washing out the iron taste that lingered.

"Glad to see you remember me" Temari smirked and Katsura smiled weakly but it was enough to fool the elder so she didn't know she was still in pain.

"How…" Katsura started to ask bit a coughing fit broke through her sentence, Temari really didn't know what to do she was a battle ninja not a medic. When Katsura reclaimed her voice she started once more. "How did I get here?" her voice was still rough but not as much thanks to the water. "And where is here?"

"Your at my house" Temari informed her "Crybaby and Gaara brought you here after you passed out in the Kazekage's office." Katsura looked at Temari wildly her brain could only think of one thing _"Why didn't they bring me to the hospital" _She sighed in defeat, now every body though she was weak, why couldn't she suppress her attack until they left the office surely the sand siblings though badly of Konoha now since they sent a weak ninja. If only she hadn't been impatient and ran through the desert knowing she was getting sick she wouldn't be here but she had to make the best of it.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to burden you" Katsura looked away from Temari

"Burden?" The blonde laughed "I live with Kankuro, if thats not a burden I don't know what is. Plus it will be nice to have another girl in the house"

Katsura didn't want them to think of her as weak she needed to leave as soon as possible. A low grumble interrupted her thoughts, she then realized she had not eaten since this morning and who know who long she was passed out from her attack.

"I'll get you something to eat" Temari stood to leave.

"No" Katsura shouted "I'll get it myself" She smiled and threw off the covers instantly feeling the cold air on her legs, for a house in the desert it was surprisingly cold "I don't want to trouble you anymore then I already am" She stood but felt a bit light headed and swayed slightly.

"No you need to rest, I don't know what will happen if you get up. And its no trouble at all I already made food I'll get you some" Temari made Katsura sit down on the bed once more "And I'm a pretty good cook if I say so myself"

"So you are saying that stuff you gave me was food?" A lazy voice spoke from in the hallway

"Shut up crybaby!" Temari yelled to an entering Shikamaru

"Troublesome woman" Shikamaru sighed tossing an apple to Katsura who caught it with ease. "You need to stay in bed, you should know better" He shoved his now free hands inside his pockets and took a seat by the chair next by the bed, the whole time Temari glared at him.

"I know" Katsura took a bite out of the apple "Why didn't you bring me to the hospital?" she spoke after swallowing a bit of the fruit.

"Your too troublesome in hospitals you never stay in for long"

"That's only at the hospital in Konoha and all the nurses know by now I will return eventually" Katsura had an innocent look on her face that was only broken by a few coughs. "As soon as the treaty is signed we are leaving" She informed her partner

"I don't think so" Temari raised her voice "You are in no shape to be traveling"

"The bothersome woman is right, it's a three day trip and in your health it could take twice as long and you will be much sicker then before" Shikamaru agreed

"Hey watch what you say, I might just have to kick your butt again" Temari turned to yell at the lazy Nara boy.

"As soon as I am well enough to travel we must leave" Katsura said before Shikamaru could remark against the comment. He just nodded, muttered something involving 'troublesome woman' and walked out the door not wanting to be around Temari for now, he wanted to think of ways to annoy her while he was here. Katsura coughed a few times before she rolled her eyes at her best friend. He thought every thing was troublesome.

"You need to get some rest while I figure out how to torture the lazy kid" Temari smirked "Are you sure you don't want anything to eat?"

knowing that Shikamaru was rarely wrong about anything she decided to listen to him "Yeah I'm fine" she answered not wanting to find out about her cooking.

"Alright, see you later" Temari left the room turing off the light and closing the door behind her.

Katsura was now alone in the dark foreign room with only her thoughts of how weak she was and her coughs. She knew while she was sick she could not sleep much, her body wouldn't allow her. She reached into her pouch on the night stand and pulled out her book she just bought before the mission. She opened to the first page and began reading. It was going to be a long time before she could leave this oversized bed without Temari yelling at her.

XXXXX

**alright Ch 3 is done, sorry it took so long i couldn't write this chapter I don't think i am pulling off Gaara's personality right and I kept changing it, Hopefully i will be satisfied soon cause Gaara will be appearing a lot more now. I will try to get a the next chapter posted soon but i have finals coming up so no guarantee but after that I have a month off so i can post more. **

**Next Chapter: How will Katsura cope being stuck with the sand siblings while she is sick? What will she do when reunited with Kankuro? Why should we even care? Ok seriously who keeps messing with the script?**

**Please review, Arigato**

**~Grim Goodbye**


	4. Reunite with Kankuro

Alright only 2 reviews (can you guess from who?) which isn't bad I would prefer more but i can't force you. On with the story…

Disclaimer: wishes but does not own. slash cry….

"Talking"

'_**Shukaku talking'**_

'_thinking'_

**The Devil in the Pale Moonlight**

Chapter 4: Reunite with Kankuro

Katsura glanced down at her book once again, she had read a few chapters but was bored as hell being stuffed up a room coughing her lungs out, not literally mind you. She sighed and placed her book down, she wanted to do something, her sickness has never stopped her before so why should it start now? Maybe Temari and her giant fan might have something to do with it, she knew not to mess with that girl especially if she is mad cause you will die. Looking over the plain room Katsura coughed instead of sighing, what to do what to do?

Outside the window she saw an array of colors streaked across the sky with night starting to descend, it was beautiful contrasted against the harsh colors of clay and sand. But that also meant one thing it was late and Katsura has only eaten an apple all day. Deciding to go get something and return before Temari noticed would be her best strategy.

She slowly got out of bed careful not to make a sound, she didn't know how good of hearing the sand girl had but she didn't want to find out. She lifted her self out of the bed, her legs a bit shaky because of the hours of non movement. She walked down the hallway, there was no sound coming from the staircase. A good sign that she could get away with being up so soon. She slowly left the room opting to leave her sword where it was, she couldn't really wield it in her condition anyway. She passed a few closed doors but ignored them, she was really hungry and wanted to get food before she had another coughing fit.

She descended the stairs to notice silence throughout the house, it was really eerie. If you think about it with Temari and Shikamaru together silence is not what one would expect. Katsura just shrugged it off and continued toward the kitchen. When she found it she looked around to find anything to eat, she didn't even bother to turn on the lights. As she was searching in one of the cupboards she heard quiet foot steps getting slowly louder, if it was Temari or Shikamaru she would be in trouble, Gaara on the other hand probably wouldn't even care. Light flooded the kitchen and Katsura whipped around to see… purple makeup.

"Well, Well, Well, now they are coming to me?" The young man smirked playfully.

"Kankuro, how many times do I have to tell you? Girls will never date you with an attitude like that." Katsura laughed back at him.

Kankuro paused, who was this and why did she seem familiar? Once he remembered his smirk returned with a vengeance. Katsura coughed waiting for his brain to start functioning again.

"Kat?" The puppeteer tested.

"Don't call me that!" Katsura raised her voice but coughed because of the strain.

"Aww, come on" Kankuro said "Like I told you before, you'll always be my kitty Kat" he teased waiting for a desired reaction. A vain appeared on the back of Katsura's head caused by the annoying boy in front of her.

"At least I don't dress like a cat" Katsura fired back triumphantly.

"It's not a cat costume, its a puppeteers grab" He answered angrily "What are you doing here anyway?" he asked being bored of his game now.

Katsura smiled at her win, for now "I came to deliver a scroll to the Kazekage, did you know that its Gaara, I had no clue"

"Yeah, I know" Kankuro shook his head and chuckled at her

"Anyway, I got sick and wound up here." She shrugged "I got hungry and came down here for something to eat" Katsura turn around again and started looking for food before a thought dawned on her, she turned and eyed Kankuro suspiciously. "Your not going to tell Temari I got out of bed are you. She will be mad and probably kill me"

"I know how she can be, don't worry I wont say anything" Kankuro smiled widely "But you should probably get back to bed"

Right on cue Katsura's leg moved only she was not the one in control of them. How could she not have noticed the chakra strings starting from Kankuro's hand and connecting to her? Kankuro smirked at his newly acquired puppet and brought her closer to him.

"You know I have learned a few new tricks since the last time we met" He informed his human toy

"And so did I, if i had my sword right now I would show them to you" Damn why didn't she grab it before she came down. Oh right she sick she can't even use it now.

"You don't need that to show me anything" Kankuro yanked on the strings bringing her closer. The jerk made her cough so she turned her head to the side because she couldn't use her arms right now. Her hair covered half her face when she started to look back noticing how close she was to the elder boy. Kankuro reached and brushed her hair back gently placing his palm over her cheek. Katsura's heart started racing, Kankuro was insanely close to her and coming closer. His face was leaning to her and Katsura had no clue what to do she couldn't even defend herself, who knew Kankuro would be so forward. With nothing else left to do she closed her eyes and waited to see what Kankuro would do. Suddenly she felt a low voice in her ear.

"Gotcha" Katsura snapped open her eyes seeing that Kankuro had by passed her face and leaned into her ear. "I knew you wanted me" He back away but was still close enough to her so she couldn't stop her heart.

"N-no" She suddenly blushed think about her actions "I just didn't know what to do is all" Kankuro smirked again knowing he had won this round.

"What are you doing?" A third voice asked them.

XXXXX

Gaara rubbed is eyes in boredom all that was around him was paperwork, paperwork and guess what, more paperwork! His stomach growled for attention and he just growled back in annoyance, maybe skipping out on Temari's breakfast wasn't the best idea. Now he was working at his home office upstairs, he took it upon himself to not return when he and Shikamaru brought Katsura back here, so he knew he could get something to eat. He placed his elbows on the desk and laced his fingers together, he didn't have much of a choice either starve, well that would end all the paperwork, or get up and get something to eat. Luckily he chose the latter. He slowly walked put of his office, he was never really in a hurry for anythings was he? He noticed the quietness in the house which was unusual considering his siblings where naturally loud people. As he approached the kitchen he heard a muffled conversation, if he tried he probably could here it better but he didn't care. Once he stepped into the well lit kitchen his eyes widened slightly before glaring at the spectacle in front of him. He saw Katsura blushing madly while Kankuro had her trapped in his chakra strings smirking at her. A knew feeling overwhelmed Gaara but he didn't know what is was. Why was he mad at his brother now? Kankuro had brought a lot of girls home, maybe not that many, but Gaara never felt anything towards it. What was he feeling? Jealously perhaps? No what did Sabuku no Gaara have to be jealous of, he never cared about what the Kankuro does with some girl, only this girl Gaara knew even if he though of her as annoying.

"What are you doing?" These words escaped his mouth before he could think to stop

The chains binding the two broke instantly and Katsura took a few steps back and let her face return to it's normal color. She coughed a few times before she ventured a glance at her savior. Gaara just stood there glaring at his brother who was rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"I was only kiddin' Gaara" He started "I was just trying to get her into bed… c-cause she's sick, not with me. I mean...," Kankuro sputtered nervously at the red head.

An awkward silence befell the trio until Katsura chuckled. She though it was the funniest thing ever to see Kankuro squirm under the glare of his younger brother. Gaara, who was baffled by the random outburst of laughing coming form the girl, turned his gaze to her but quickly looked back to Kankuro.

"Go" was all he needed to say before the eldest in the room swiftly left but not with out some sort of sadistic smile plastered on his face. Once he was gone from the room Gaara sighed in exasperation, all he wanted to do was get something to eat before he retired for the another sleepless night of solitude. Was that really so much to ask for?

Realizing what Kankuro had said Gaara turned his aqua eyes on the young girl who instantly stopped laughing at his gaze. "You are sick you should be in bed" he spoke calmly

"I just came down to get something to eat... Gaara-sama" Katsura coughed then turned around to look through the foods once more.

Gaara narrowed his eyes suspiciously, she had never been formal before even when they first met. Why was she being to distant from him now? _"Is she mad?" _Gaara though irrationally _"is she upset that I interrupted her and Kankuro?" _Once again he felt that foreign feeling swell up inside him, it was so strange.

"Would you like me to make you something to eat Gaara-sama?" Katsura asked sweetly

"Just Gaara" He looked away from her, for some reason he didn't even want to see her face right now.

"R-really? I though with you being Kazekage now you wouldn't want me to address you informally" Katsura smiled and turned to look towards the fridge to make something. She found a few items to make tonjiru, (Miso Soup with pork) and placed them on the counter. She began preparing to cook when she looked over a Gaara, his face remained expressionless as per usual but his eyes held something behind them, she just smiled and coughed, careful to turn away from the food. "Don't worry I wont cough in your food" she teased before making her meal.

Gaara sat down on one of the chairs silently watching Katsura as she prepared the food, He didn't know how to cook so he never offered his help, even though she was sick. No words were exchanged between the two but the silence was not unwelcome, Gaara was not much of a talker and Katsura was too bust concentrating on cooking to say anything. Once the soup was finished Katsura brought it to the table and poured two bowls, passing one of them to Gaara she sat down and proceeded to eat.

Gaara slowly brought the spoon to his mouth and tasted the soup, it was surprisingly good. They both ate in silence. After a while Katsura looked up at Gaara and sighed.

"How can you stand not to talk?" She asked unbelievingly

"What?" Gaara questioned surprised yet irritated at her.

"Well, what I mean is how can you just sit there in silence? It drives me up the wall!" She claimed

"Hn" Gaara just shrugged her off, he was just used to the silence. No one ever talked to him after Yashamaru died, his siblings would only say what was needed and nothing more. The only voices he ever heard were either screaming, whispers or shukaku. Katsura coughed while waiting for a response but when it never came she just gave up and continued eating.

XXXXX

Temari dragged a very bored and tired looking Shikamaru into the Sabuku manor. She had a vexed look upon her face, probably caused from spending the entire day with the lazy younger boy. She crossed her arms quickly once they entered through the doors, she scanned the area and saw no signs of Gaara or Kankuro. She walked across the house but heard a voice coming from the kitchen, it was definitely not male, enraged Temari stormed over to the sound. Shikamaru watched as Temari stomped to the other room, rolling his eyes her followed suit.

"What is going on?!" Temari yelled, she saw Katsura out of bed and was pissed

"Gaara and I were hungry so I made us something to eat" Katsura answered trying to calm the angry woman. Gaara gave her a sharp look that read 'Don't bring me into this'

"Well you still shouldn't be up, your sick" Temari sighed and placed her hand on her hips

"Relax, I'm used to doing things sick" She tried to reassure the other but to no avail. Katsura couldn't help but feel useless, everyone kept reminding her that she was sick. She wasn't stupid she knew her sickness and her limits why was everyone treating her like she was just a child. Not even her parents would do this to her when they were alive, but considering who her parents were it came as no surprise that her sickness was not a big issue. She hated the fact that the sand sibling probably though of her as weak and that she was burdening all those around her because of her own curse.

"I consulted with Suna's chief medical ninjas, someone will be here tomorrow to check you out" Temari stated matter-of-factly

"You what?" Katsura asked startled "No, I'm not seeing a doctor!" she exclaimed, this time she was not smiling, it was the first time they had ever saw her upset.

"I hate to say it" Shikamaru spoke up drawling "I told you so" he smirked at Temari who glared determined with a mission.

"Yes you will!" She yelled at the younger girl "You have no choice you are seeing that doctor even if I have to strap you down to the bed"

"No!" Katsura coughed violently and uncontrollably from her yelling. She calmed down a bit once the coughing subsided "I'm sorry Temari but the doctors can't do anything for me, it would be a waste of time"

"That will be for them to decide" Temari walked out of the room so she would be left with the final word. Katsura slammed her fist against the table, Gaara looked at her for the first time he had actually saw her angry, an emotion he thought to be impossible for her.

Katsura fumed at what just happened. _"How dare she do that! She has no idea what this will put me through. Now every one will know" _Katsura furrowed her brow trying to think to what to do, if she were a genius like her best friend then this would be no problem but she wasn't. She looked up at Shikamaru pleadingly, hoping he knew what to do.

"Doctor- Patient confidentiality" Shikamaru said bored before he walked out of the room. Instantly Katsura's face brightened up. There was a way out of this already. She smiled at Gaara who was completely confused by the actions that had just been going on. Katsura picked up both hers and Gaara's now empty bowls and placed them in the sink.

"I think I will retire for the night, Goodnight Gaara" Katsura turned and left the kitchen. Her mind was racing about what she was going to do exactly tomorrow. She walked up the stairs carefully and down the hall. Once she got to her room that she was to stay at she flopped down on the bed, she was sore and wanted to relax. She never noticed how much energy it took just to cook. She laid in bed for a while not wanting to move but not able to sleep. It wasn't worry or anything that kept her up, it was her illness she couldn't fall asleep while she was coughing and every time she came close a new cough would stir her.

XXXXX

Gaara found himself sitting on the roof once again, night had come all too quickly. Like every night he sat on the roof and looked out towards the moon, The stars glittered silently against the midnight blue sky. The moon cast the light for anything around, any normal person would find this sight breathtaking but not Gaara. This was something that he was forced to see every night of his sleepless life. The demon within him would never allow him the true peace and tranquillity of sleep.

Gaara thoughts were about Katsura and her sickness. Why was it that she got mad at Temari? All that had happened was that his sibling had shown compassion and was looking out for her. It was strange to think that Katsura was capable of anger and rage, think back to when they first met she had been really polite even though Kankuro would tease her she would still smile. Gaara realized he had never really known her, they met a few times and she would try to talk to him even though he would blow her off and scare her away, he never had tried to get to know anyone before. Gaara's eyes were glued to the moon while he sat in the coldness of the desert. At night the temperature drops just as fast as the setting sun, without it the darkness consumes all.

"_**So the little rabbit has returned?" **_a voice that was all too familiar spoke in his mind

"_Silence" _Gaara ordered the demon. A hearty laugh filled his mind as he tried to will away the beast.

"_**You denied me the pleasure of hearing her screams last time, you won't deny it to me now" **_Shukaku laughed once more in anticipation.

"_You cannot harm her now, she is here representing Konoha" _

"_**Do you think that will stop me?"**_ the raccoon asked the boy _**"I will have my pleasure this time, and you will have your hands covered in her blood, this I guarantee!" **_he laughed full force

Gaara ignored the demon as it receded into the back of his mind, he had fought Shukaku for the past two years and he will continue. Gaara silently thanked Uzumaki Naruto once again for giving him the strength to protect his precious people, if it wasn't for him Gaara would not be fighting the demon inside him now.

He continued to sit in silence with only his thoughts so accompany him until dawn, maybe tomorrow he will receive his answers about the confusing girl.

XXXXX

**Another chapter is done, I am on break from school now so hopefully I can get a few more chapters done. Also i have updated my profile to list some story ideas so look at them and see if any interest you. I already have a request for the next stories I could write. **

**Next Time: How will Katsura respond to the doctor? What is she hiding from every one? Who actually likes this story? enough! whoever is messing with my script is in a lot of trouble and when I find you…. **

**anyway, please send in a review. hopefully the next chapter will be up soon. **

**Arigato,**

**Grim Goodbye**


	5. Doctors Visit

Thank you to Fanny-kun, Jokermask and _____ for reviewing my story, I got three reviews this time, whoo…

Disclaimer: Still doesn't own

"Talking"

'**Shukaku talking'**

'_thinking'_

**The Devil in the Pale Moonlight**

Chapter 5: Doctors Visit

Katsura woke early the next morning when the light hit her eyes at just the right angle, slowly she cracked open her eyes. She panicked slightly when she noticed she wasn't in her house but recalled the events of yesterday, she sighed and rolled over holding the pillow above her head to try and get more sleep knowing it was futile. She remembered that yesterday Temari said a doctor would be visiting today, Katsura groaned at the thought. She grew up with doctors constantly trying to help but none could, save for Tsuande-sama who came up with a medicine that could suppress the symptoms but it would cause too much harm to her body to be worth taking. Katsura hated being stuffed up in the room, if she were back home then she would probably be training, not as much as she normal does but she wouldn't let anyone tell her otherwise.

Reluctantly she sat up in the bed and looked once more out the window seeing the sun just barely rising over the horizon. She coughed roughly and continued her gaze out the window, now she really felt like Shikamaru when he was watching the clouds. She groaned when the sun reached a little bit higher and hit her eyes blinding her once more. She decided to get up and get ready for the day. Once she stood could really feel how tired she was for her lack of sleep because she couldn't move any faster then molasses as she made her way to the second door in her room, which was a bathroom. She figured that out late at night when she was pacing in her room to tire herself out to sleep. After brushing her hair and teeth and getting ready she noticed that about a half hour had passed. There was a knock on the door then someone entered just as Katsura was walking out of the bathroom.

"Hey Kat-" Kankuro started but was cut off.

"Don't call me that" Katsura scolded

"Well I brought you breakfast" Kankuro replied holding up a tray Katsura had failed to notice. He placed the tray on the night stand and smirked at her "Temari and Shikamaru left to get something to eat so I made you something seeing is how you can't leave, Oh and Gaara left for work already"

Katsura eyed him suspiciously for his smirk had turned from playful to devilish. "Ok... He is the Kazekage, I would expect him to be at work, why are you telling me this?" She ask confused before she coughed.

"Just thought I would let you know" He shrugged "Well I'm off I have a mission so I wont be back till later, sorry I can't bug you today"

"That's Ok. Somehow you are always able to annoy me even if your gone" She coughed and laughed at the cat ninja when he pouted from her comment. Kankuro grumbled before leaving the room making Katsura laugh once more at him. She reached for the tray he brought in picking up a piece of fruit that lay on the tray, the rest of the food was a bowl of cereal and a glass of orange juice, something that Katsura could make but she wasn't going to complain about it, it wasn't too often Kankuro would help out of kindness. She leaned back on the head board and grabbed her book, she had some time to kill before the doctor was to arrive.

XXXXX

Temari had just finish eating and was now sitting in a booth at a local restaurant. She was waiting for Shikamaru to finish so they can head back to her house before the doctor arrived. She slowly looked over him, he wasn't in a real rush which explained why she was finished so much faster then him. For some reason she kept her eyes on him while he wasn't paying attention, she noticed every detail in his face, the way his eyes would roll when she would talk, the way his nose scrunched up when he was annoyed. Shikamaru looked up from his meal to see the fan mistress staring at him, she promptly cast her eyes in the other direction. Now it was Shikamaru's turn to stare at his companion, she crossed her arms and continue to look away, more like glared away. He watched her sit there and smirked when he noted she was avoiding eye contact. Temari slowly looked at the lazy boy and glared even more when she saw him smirking at her.

"What are you looking at Nara?" She asked extremely annoyed.

"Nothing, why are you starring at me?" The boy drawled still smirking.

"I wasn't! Who would want to look at you?" She fired back harshly. Shikamaru said nothing in return but his smirk left his face only to be replaced by a scowl. The waitress walked over and placed the check on the table, Temari reached for her coin purse to pay for her half when she saw Shikamaru reach for the check.

"What are you doing" She asked raising an eyebrow

"Paying" He simply said

Temari was a bit taken back by him, why would some one who she had been fighting with the entire time she saw him want to pay for her. "I'll pay for my half" She informed him

"No, don't worry about it. I got it" He spoke slowly eyes never leaving the check held in his hand.

"No, I'll pay for my half. " She re-enforced the idea

"You took in my friend, this is the least I could do" he looked at her and smiled

"Thats all right" She said again this time more annoyed at him "You don't have to pay for me"

"Why? It's not like it a date or anything" Shikamaru said but quickly stop talking and looked at Temari embarrassed, the older girl didn't say anything but looked at him incredulously. Silence stretched between the two until Temari thought to change the subject.

"We should probably get back to the house, Katsura is waiting." She said not looking at the shadow user he nodded in agreement as the stood up to leave. Shikamaru placed enough money on the table to cover the bill and tip, they left and headed toward the house in an awkward silence.

XXXXX

Katsura signed once again being very bored cooped up in the room with nothing else to do then read her book. She read for a while after Kankuro left before she become tired and placed her book down then proceeded to try and get more rest knowing it was completely hopeless. She perked up when she heard the door open and close indicating that people have arrived. She waited until she heard footsteps climbing the stairs before she reached for her book to make it look like she was doing something. The door opened and Katsura saw a glimpse of blonde, she smiled and looked over her book. The elder girl walked into the room with Shikamaru in tow, neither had spoken to each other since they left the restaurant.

"Hey Katsura, how are you feeling?" Temari asked

"I'm fine" She smiled at her before she coughed a little bit. Katsura was beginning to get annoyed at how everyone thought she was a little child who couldn't do anything for her self. She cast her eyes down on her book.

"What are you reading?" Temari asked when she saw Katsura look away

"Huh? oh" She look up to meet the gaze of the blonde "it's a book called 'Angel of Death' it about how the grim reaper comes to collect the soul of a person only to fall in love with the guys daughter, it's pretty funny" Katsura smiled with a chuckle but quickly coughed.

"Yeah sounds hilarious" Temari said sarcastically, a soft knock came from the bedroom door make all the occupants turn in that direction, there was no one else in the house, who would be knocking on a bedroom door? The opened to reveal a young man with black hair slicked back into a long pony tail, he wore matching tan pants with a tan shirt and a doctors coat over it.

"Hey Temari-chan, hope you don't mind I let myself in" He said walking into the room

"Yeah thats fine Shiro" She waved off the man and turned to Katsura

"Ah, you must be Katsura-san" He walked over to the bed and placed a bag on it "I'm Dr. Shiro"

Katsura nodded towards the man to show she had her him but gave no effort to look at him she just went back to reading her book. She never felt conferrable around doctors and this one was no exception. Shikamaru looked over the doctor, already he didn't like him for no explainable reason. There was something about him that made Shikamaru want to punch his lights out but he knew he couldn't that would cause a lot of trouble.

"Shiro" Temari said " This is Shikamaru, he is also from Konoha" He pointed at the boy who had a bored expression plastered on his face. The doctor walked over to him and extended his arm for a hand shake, reluctantly Shikamaru grasped on hand shook but fairly rough to convey his point of dislike, the doctor raised an eyebrow at him but ignored it.

"Now if you would all leave, I can conduct the check up on miss Katsura-san" He announced walking back to the bed. After the two exited leaving Katsura and the doctor alone he turned to her and softly smiled, he could feel the tenseness radiating off of her. "I just have a few questions before we start" He pulled out a clip board and a pen form his bag.

"I have a few questions first" Katsura put her book down and looked him dead in the eye, no trace of happiness was present on her face, instead she looked serious. "What I say here will not be told to anyone else right?"

"That is right, I cannot give any information to anyone else unless given permission by you"

"Not even to the Kazekage?" She looked at him, her eyes narrowing waiting for the right answer.

"Not even to him unless it could threaten the village, now may I continue with my procedure?"

"Fine" Katsura pouted and crossed her arms looking away from him

"Alright, is there a history of sickness in your family?" He put the pen to the paper and waited for a reply.

"Yes" Katsura looked down, now finding the bed sheets to be far more interesting "On my fathers side" she elaborated then sighed and coughed, she had no choice but to explain what was going on exactly.

XXXXX

Temari sat on the couch on one side while Shikamaru sat on the other side as far way as he could. Neither spoke nor even looked t each other while they sat there, the only sound was the clock ticking, counting every excruciating second that passed in utter silence. Shikamaru was upset but he wasn't really sure why but he knew he was mad. Finally he thought to break the silence that had followed since the restaurant.

"So how do you know doctor whats his face?" Shikamaru asked annoyed

"We've been on a few mission together" Temari smirked when she noticed he was upset "He's taken a special liking to me, I'm the only one he calls chan ya know" she pointed out trying to get him to take the bait.

"So?" He yawned seemingly uninterested in what she was saying now. Temari found that extremely irritating that a guy would be pissed one second but bored the next. Shikamaru laid down on the couch with his legs hanging off the arm and his hand tucked behind his head. He closed his eyes and hoped he would forget about what happened today. Just as he was beginning to relax he heard the girl next to him get up and walk away, he peeked one eye open to see she had walked to across the room and sat on the chair across from him, she had her arms crossed and looked away from him annoyed. Just as he was about to make a snide comment to get her riled up he heard the front door open and close as well as foot steps getting closer, he picked him self up to see the youngest of the Sabuku walk into the house with a blank expression on.

"How is our guest?" He asked referring to Katsura

"The doctor is with her now, what are you doing home so early, Gaara?" Temari asked confused, since her brother didn't sleep he was often at the tower working into the late hours of the night, why he would be home mid-afternoon was beyond her.

"I insisted he take the day off to make sure our guests from Kohona were alright" Another voice spoke up just as a tall man walked into the room, he had half his face covered from a cloth that hung over it.

"Baki-sensei" Temari called smiling at her former teacher

"The council thought it would be best to make sure the visitors were doing well during there stay, that and…" He reached into his robes and pulled out a scroll "We also received a letter from the Hokage" Shikamaru actually got up from the couch to accept the scroll that Baki held out for him. He quickly opened it and looked over the contents, he read over the words and nodded when he finished, it was nothing more then a response to the letter Suna's council sent informing Tsuande-sama that Katsura had fallen ill and she and Shikamaru would be staying here. The letter merely said that Katsura was in trouble for disobeying a direct command and that she would be punished upon return, also they are not to travel until a doctor has given her clearance. Shikamaru knew this was coming, he told Katsura not to run while in the desert but she wouldn't listen just, she was way too troublesome for him to be around yet he always hangs around her.

XXXXX

Shiro had finished his exam and was writing down a few last minute notes on his clipboard. Katsura was sitting at the edge of the bed waiting for the doctor to finish what he was doing. The procedure was shorter then he originally thought it was going to be since she knew exactly what was wrong with her.

"You do know what you are then, right?" He said peering over his papers to look at the girl who was starring at the ground.

"Hai, and I know the dangers" she said not removing her eyes from the ground.

"Then you should know there is nothing I can do"

This time Katsura looked up and smiled at the doctor "Thats exactly what I told Temari but she wouldn't listen"

the doctor chuckled knowing how she could be "Yeah, so just get some rest and wait for it to pass" Shiro collected his things and turned to walk down stairs only to see Katsura stand up off the bed, he was amazed at how much determination she had to try and act normal while she was sick. She smiled at him and walked over indicating she would walk with him down stairs. The two started talking while they walked down the stairs. When they reached the bottom they saw that Gaara had made it home.

"Ah, Gaara-sama I'm glad you are here, Katsura is fine. It's just a family illness, there is nothing I can do just make sure she get rest and doesn't push herself too hard." Shiro told the group as if Katsura was not standing right next to him, she glared at the doctor _'this is exactly why I hate doctors' _ Katsura thought, they always made her feel like a child who needed to be taken care of.

"The Hokage said she needed doctors approval before she traveled…"Baki started but was interrupted by the doctor

"She is not well enough but I will be back in a few days to check up and let you know"

"Thank you Shiro" Temari said, Shikamaru glared at the doctor who turn to acknowledge the wind girl, the doctor caught his eye and smirked at him making Shikamaru really angry.

"I will be off now, It was nice meeting you Katsura" He turned and smirked at the other boy "You too Shikamaru" Said boy glared even harder when he said his name. The doctor turned to leave but stopped in front of the door. "Temari-chan can I speak to for a second" He walked out side and Temari followed suit a little confused as to why he wanted to talk to her privately.

"Hello, Katsura-san." The elder man spoke to the young girl. Of course Katsura recognized him from the chuunin exams, he was the sand siblings sensei at the time. She had met him maybe once or twice at the time. "I should be leaving as well" He nodded at the group and left passing Temari who had just walked in with a grin on her face.

"So we are stuck here until Katsura gets better?" Shikamaru asked trying his best to ignore the grinning woman.

"Hai, you will be welcome to stay here" Gaara spoke monotone then left the room. Katsura could see the hostility coming off of Shikamaru, she scratched the back of her head and chuckled. She was hoping to spend some time with her friend but now decided against it.

"Well I'm off to rest. I'll be upstairs" She said and walked away leaving Temari and Shikamaru staring at each other.

"What was that about?" Shikamaru asked trying to sound bored but failing miserably.

"Nothing" She said smirking, Shikamaru rolled his eyes and followed his friend. Temari glared at his retreating back, how can he act like nothing effects him. She had spent a lot of time with him during the different chuunin exams and when she traveled to Konoha, and that has always irritated her to no end how he would remain clam and uncaring the entire time she was with him. With out realizing it Temari balled her hand into fists, how was he able to get under her skin without having to say anything.

Kankuro walked into the house, the mission wasn't that hard so he was able to finish fairly early and wanted to relax. He walked into the house and placed his puppet down on the ground. He saw his sister standing there on the middle of the room. He just walked passed her.

"Hey Temari"

"SHUT UP!" She yelled and stormed off to her room. Kankuro blinked _'what the hell?' _He thought confused before he shrugged and left to his work shop.

XXXXX

**Another chapter down, sorry the update took so long I was writing a one shot about Gai. If you have time you should read the story its a romanic comedy, very funny, or at least I think so. Also Jokermask made a picture of Katsura for me so if you want to see it go to my profile and follow the link. **

**Next Chapter: What is Katsura's sickness? What did the doctor want from Temari? …. Alright no one touched the script this time!**

**Please review, Arigato**

**~Grim Goodbye**


	6. Moonlight Meetings

Thank you to Fanny-kun, Kankuro's Puppet and Jokermask for the reviews

Disclaimer: I said it before I do not own

"Talking"

'_**Shukaku talking'**_

'_thinking'_

**The Devil in the Pale Moonlight**

Chapter 6: Moonlight Meetings

The sun had long since set making Katsura gaze out the window towards the moon that had risen in the desert sky. A blue hue streaked the city making the houses almost blend into the ground that was shaded blue as well. The stars had come forth in silence to lighten up the sky along side the moon. Katsura smiled at the heavens, in Konoha the night scene was beautiful as well but out here it was so clear and peaceful. Katsura lifted the window up and stuck her head out, a cool wind blew across her face and she relished the clear air that filled her lungs, she coughed as quiet as she could. Gathering as much chakra as she needed to her feet she slowly stepped on the window sill and placed one foot out side once she was sure it would stay she fully stepped out side taking in the brisk desert temperature of the desert night. She slowly walked on the outside of the house until she reached the roof, she was truly sick of being stuck in the house and thought it would be best to go to the roof when every one else was asleep, or so she thought.

She looked to the silently glittering stars, every single one was visible in the sky at this bleak landscape. She sighed contently, even though she had her sickness to worry about she felt at ease being on top of the house looking at the scenery above her. She sat on the edge of the roof and continued her gaze above, completely oblivious to every thing around her.

XXXXX

After everyone had retired for the night Gaara emerged from his sanctuary to once again return to his most beloved of places. He slowly reached the top of the stairs to the door that led to the roof, the one place that was his. Since he was a child he would spend his sleepless nights studying the stars above. As he reached the top and went out onto the roof he expected that all would be gone, enjoying the blissful peace of sleep that he would never know. His eyes shifted around adjusting to the darkness when he noticed something or some one at the edge of the roof.

Gaara was stunned that Katsura was sitting on the roof. _'what is she doing up here?' _Gaara questioned himself disbelieving.

"_**Now is the perfect opportunity to end her life"**_the demon spoke smiling a sinister grin Gaara knows all too well

'_I will not allow you to harm anyone else'_

"_**You can't hold me off forever, you will slip and see it my way" **_The raccoon growled lowly at his host

"_No, I will not. As long as I have people I care about I can fight you" _Gaara shot back becoming irritated.

"_**Those who you 'love' will turn on you, just like Yashamaru did... just like your siblings when you were younger... and just like she will" **_A hollow laughter filled his mind just before the deathly silence Shukaku was known for, before his change Gaara would have allowed his pleasure at the time of killing anyone the demon wanted. _**"It's inevitable Gaara, you cant win so long as I am here"**_

Gaara pushed the demon out of his thoughts, he no longer wanted to banter with such an annoying creature. His eyes gazed out toward the girl sitting on the roof looking up at the moon ahead. He was about to speak so she would be aware of his presents but a soft melody landed on his ears, it was then he noticed that Katsura was singing silently to her self oblivious to him standing just a few feet behind her. Her voice wasn't anything special, truth be told it was really out of tune and pretty bad but it had a haunting beauty to it. He couldn't really make out the words, subconsciously he took a step forward accidently scrapping his sandal in the sandy roof top. Katsura whipped around and looked face to face with the older boy, her own becoming redder then his hair. She turned around and looked at the moon once more before coughing, when it subsided she spoke to Gaara.

"What are you doing here?"

"I live here" Gaara said indifferently

Katsura chuckled before answering "I know that, I mean what are you doing out here?"

"...I always come out here" He too looked up at the sky above

"Oh… Don't you sleep at all?" Katsura asked jokingly

"No" Gaara answered not once looking at her

Katsura paused waiting for an explanation but noticed he was done talking. _'… forget it, if he doesn't want to explain I'm not going to ask' _

"How...How long were you standing there?" She asked looking up at the standing boy, she took this time to study his face, it was not scared which was unusual for a ninja, especially one of his rank, but it also held something else. He had a child like innocence dawned on his face, Katsura couldn't help but think how cute he looked with the moon light reflecting on his face giving it an eerie glow on his pale skin, and making the red tattoo stand out on his forehead. _'Oh, Kami did I just say he's cute?!?! n-no I'm sick that must be it, the sickness it just effecting my brain and making me think weird thoughts, Yeah thats it'_

"Long enough" Gaara spoke bringing her out of her mental rants. He finally sat down next to her, eyes still gazing out on the stars. "What were you singing?" this time he looked at her curiously. She softly smiled back before turning her head to cough.

"It was a song my mother used to song to me when I was a child" She turned her head once more to look at him. "When I was younger, before…" She trailed off looking up after her statement. "Did your mom ever song to you as a child?"

"No… I never knew her" Gaara admitted, with out even realizing it he placed his right hand over his heart, the pain an the memories began to fill through it.

"I'm sorry…"Katsura truthfully said, she knew he had no parents like her, but she didn't know the story behind it. She just assumed he had known them at one point in time, needless to say it was a bad assumption. Katsura threw her arm around Gaara's shoulders and pulled him close, almost to the point where there cheeks were touching. Then she sung, not to loudly but just loud enough for only them to hear.

(A/N translation in parentheses)

"Kirameku namida wa hoshi ni

(To the stars my glittering tears went)

Kaze ni nori sora wo kazaru

(They ride the wind and adorn the sky)

Tsukiakari kumo ni togiretemo

(And if the moonlight is blocked out by the clouds)

Boku wo terasu"

(They still shine on me)

After the last note was sung Katsura relinquished her grip on the other person, not looking him in the eye, although he narrowed his in confusion at her. No one had ever gotten that close to him before, it was a weird feeling being so close to someone that you could feel the other person's warm skin against your own. Katsura looked at him and smiled brightly, face slightly pink out of embarrassment.

"That was the song…I'm not much of a singer but my mom had a beautiful voice" She stared at his eyes that held confusion and pain at the same time. "Well, now you can say some one sang to you" She coughed then smiled still in shock that she did that, no one not even Shikamaru or her former teammates, hell not even her parents had ever heard her sing before. _'Baka, he's probably scared of you now, why why __why__ did I have to do that' _

Gaara was utterly confused at the leaf ninja, it made no sense that she would sing to him. He placed his hand on his lap, he forgot it was gripped on his chest. Silence fell over the two but this time it was not awkward but slightly welcome at the time. The two looked up at the peaceful sky not needing to say anything.

"Why are you up here?" Katsura was surprised that Gaara had broken the silence between them

"I wanted to get outside… And when I fall ill I get insomnia and can't sleep" She looked at Gaara who also turned from the moon to look at his companion on the roof, he actually looked at her this time, he saw the bags that had started to form under her eyes. She smiled softly at Gaara then looked up at the moon once again. Gaara still had his eyes on the girl sitting next to him.

"The moon is beautiful, isn't it Gaara?" Katsura spoke still looking at the celestial body in the sky

"…hai…" Gaara spoke hesitantly he wasn't quite sure how one would answer a question like that. He looked at the half moon in the sky and watched in silence.

"I like crescent moons better though… what about you?"

"_**Full Moons" **_Shukaku answered in Gaara's mind giving a creepy smile, luckily no one else could hear him.

"I don't know" Gaara briefly answered he was used to sitting on his roof on silence with all these questions she was asking Gaara was feeling a little irritated.

"oh…" Katsura crossed her arms and looked at the ground now thinking, she wanted to get Gaara to hold a conversation with her but he wasn't really participating. _'Maybe I should just keep talking and he can join when he wants to'_

"… I hate the full moons, even though people say it is the prettiest phase of the moon" Katsura said the first thing that was on her mind not realizing the mistake she had made.

"Why?" Gaara had thought that was on odd comment to make, how could you hate something at one time but love it at another, this girl was confusing.

"wha… oh, um" She looked at him and rubbed the back of her neck, she wasn't expecting him to join so soon. "Full moons have always been unlucky for me thats all" She smiled at the sand ninja who no longer looked at her. He didn't even acknowledge that he heard she speak so like an idiot she kept talking. "Everything bad that has happened to me has been on a full moon, my Dad died the night of a full moon, I received the worst new of my life during a full moon… I was born on a full moon…" she spoke the last part quietly as if she was ashamed she admitted it. Gaara turned to face her… now she was beyond confusing, how can someone who is always happy say being born is bad? He looked over her face which was still cast on the ground below them, she didn't have a smile plastered on her face like normal, she looked as if she were thinking...or remembering something.

Quickly Katsura recovered from her small episode and looked at at Gaara who had the tiniest hint of concern on his own face. She smiled at him all remnants of her previous mood were gone, she coughed to herself before looking up at the sky again, she still didn't get Gaara to talk much.

Time passed faster then either thought, what seemed like moments were really hours, the moon was lowering indicating it was about 3 or 4 in the morning, neither had said a word to each other they didn't need to. Katsura just enjoyed having some company even though he didn't say anything to her and maybe he enjoyed sitting with with her but he have no indication that he did.

Gaara had almost forgotten that someone was sitting next to him if it hadn't been for her random coughing fits. He was surprised some one had actually stayed out this late with him, he expected her to go inside hours ago, after she stopped talking. he felt a weight on his shoulder and looked in that direction. He saw Katsura asleep leaning on him, a weird feeling rose inside him. It was an odd feeling the same one he felt when she pull him close to her and sang to him. He was so unused to people being around him much less touch him so he didn't know what to do. He started to feel really uncomfortable when she moved her head to get more warmth from him and snuggled closer to his neck. Making his sand wrap around her he slowly lifted her up bridal style with the sand. He got up himself and walked behind the sand as it brought her to the room she was sleeping in.

XXXXX

Gaara gently placed her on the bed unsure of what he was supposed to do. He turned to leave her when he heard that same melody as before coming from the now sleeping girl, she seemed to he humming in her sleep rather them sing it. Gaara glanced over her shoulder at the sleeping and placed his hand to his chest, pain filled once again. Ignoring the motherly song and gestures that Katsura had given him that evening he returned to the solitude of the roof to watch the sky for the next few hours.

XXXXX

**sorry this chapter is a little shorter then the rest but at least it is up so soon after the last one. **

**Next Chapter: What happens when Katsura wakes up? What does she find put about her past and how will it affect her?**

**Please review, Arigato**


	7. Revelations

Thank you to Fanny-kun, Kankuro's puppet, and Jokermask for the reviews.

Disclaimer: the only one who owns is the genius known as HYPERLINK "http://en. Kishimoto, I only own Kat-

"Don't call me that!"

….. How does she hear me?

"Talking"

'_**Shukaku talking'**_

'_thinking'_

**The Devil in the Pale Moonlight**

Chapter 7: Revelations

Katsura awoke the next morning in a daze, she couldn't recall how she made it into her bed. The last thing she remembered was talking on the roof with Gaara while looking at the moon the rest was hazy. She sat up shrugging off any questions in her mind. She got ready for the day and realized that she was feeling much better then before, maybe it the outside air that did some good. She proceeded to walk down the stairs to find Gaara so she could try to talk to him some more. Katsura found that she enjoyed his company even if he didn't talk most of the time. When she got to the bottom step and looked around she found that no red head was anywhere near, Although Temari Kankuro and Shikamaru were sitting on the couches evidently in a heated debate, or at least Temari was.

"Listen Nara, there really is no way" Temari was yelling at the lazy boy who just rolled his eyes at her.

"Troublesome woman…" he just signed and crossed his arms

"You really don't want to get her riled up" Kankuro tried to explain "when she gets really mad there is nothing I can do to save you" He leaned back and watched the battle really begin.

Katsura looked perplexed at the three and sat down next to Kankuro, she coughed softly before turning to talk to Kankuro. "What are they arguing about?"

"The upcoming Chuunin exams, Temari thinks the Suna students will defeat the Konoha students, Shikamaru says otherwise… She is really starting to get mad about this"

Katsura completely forgot about the exams, it had been a while since she had been to one, the last one she was at was when she became a chuunin, she refused to go to any others. They both sat back and watched the scene in front of them. Temari kept getting madder and madder while Shikamaru seemed unfazed by anything which in turn made Temari even more frustrated. The argument was stopped by a knock on the door. Temari took a deep breath and walked towards the door, she glanced back before speaking.

"This isn't over crybaby"

"Yes, it is" Shikamaru smiled lazily at the re-newly angered sand kunochi.

She quickly turned back to the door mumbling something no one could quiet make out but it didn't seem nice. She opened it and was surprised to see it was Baki once again standing in full council robes. She gestured for him to enter and he did looking at the group and slightly smiling.

"Baki-sensei, glad you could come" Kankuro said while getting up and placing his puppet on his back.

"Baki what are you doing here?" Temari asked walking in behind him

"I'm going to talk to the council today, he is here to give me pointers to help out my argument" Kankuro replied before Baki could have a chance. "Isn't that right sensei?" He slapped the older man on the back in jest but the older man winced a little making the sand siblings grow concerned.

"Are you ok Baki?" Temari asked raising an eyebrow at him, it was unusual to see Baki in pain, he was a though guy.

"Yes I'm fine, I was just doing some training before I arrived and one of the younger ninjas got the advantage" Baki said so his old students wouldn't get worried. "It's just a small cut"

"I can help" Katsura spoke up then coughed

"What are you a medic?" Shikamaru asked while glancing out of the corner of his eye, knowing full well she wasn't.

"Of course not, if I was I wouldn't be here" She smiled at Shikamaru "But I am a swordsman, I have been treating cuts all my life… mostly my own but I could at least help so it doesn't scar "

"I thank you for the offer but it is not necessary" Baki protested but was silenced by Katsura putting her hand up.

"Of course it is, you all have been so nice to me, I want to help. Temari could you get some ointment and bandages"

Temari left the room and Katsura order Baki to sit and take off his robes, once he did as told she looked at the hole in his shirt from where the weapon it his side. After which he took off his shirt just in time for Temari to return with the supplies.

"Well it's not that bad but would have left a small scar" Katsura concluded before rubbing a small amount of medicine on the wound, Baki hitched his breath at the pain but ignored it for the most part. She started wrapping up his stomach to cover the cut when she noticed something. It was a deep scar on his right shoulder where it met the neck, it ran perpendicular to the shoulder line. "Thats an impressive mark" Katsura said meaning the scar "Yeah, it looks like it was made with a sword, Katana to be specific"

"I'm impressed you can name the weapon" Baki said slightly smiling, the hidden leaf never ceased to amaze him by their ninja skills.

"Thats nothing, my dad mad me name wounds all the time when I was younger so I would know the best way to treat them now lets see… it is about two/two and a half years old" She gently placed a finger trailing it "made with great force, that attack was from above and the sword…" She trailed off and stopped looking at it and wrapping the wound at the same time. "It was 27 inches long and ⅝ of an inch thick, correct?" She finished her statement just as she finished addressing the wound.

"I would believe so" Baki turned and smiled at the leaf ninja "Thank you, you are truly kind" He stood up and put his shirt back on as well as his robes. Katsura smiled at him it you looked at it closer it was obvious it was fake to humor the older man. Shikamaru noticed this and gave Katsura a questioning look. Kankuro and Baki bid their good byes and left leaving only the three in the house. Katsura coughed but said nothing else, it looked like a lot was on her mind so neither Temari or Shikamaru said anything. Katsura stood up and started walking back to the stairs to retreat to her temporary room, she stopped and with out turning around she talked.

"Shikamaru I need to speak with you… in private"

"troublesome, why cant you speak here?" He retorted

"Now Shikamaru" Katsura was getting annoyed and Shikamaru knew not to argue with her when she was in one of the moods she was in now, there weren't very often but when they do come it always ends up disastrous. She walked up he stairs and into the room coughing every once a while, she didn't even turn around when the other entered and closed the door. Both were oblivious to the blonde sand ninja standing out side with her ear pressed to the door.

"Do you know who that was?" Katsura started somberly

"Baki, he is on the council here in Suna" Shikamaru responded unfazed and shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Yes this I know, But I also realized who he really is…" Katsura crossed the room and grabbed her sword which was still leaning on the wall, she lifted it up and looked over the sheathed weapon. "He is the man who killed my father"

Shikamaru eyes went wide, how did she know and how is she so certain. "There is no evidence to it, maybe you are over reacting" Shikamaru tried but she turned around and coughed violently

"I'm not over reacting! I said it in there you should be able to figure it out" She glared at him, never had Shikamaru seen Katsura this way, sure she had lost her temper a few times while fighting but everyone did, she had never been angry at him. "Come on a Katana scar given around the same time that he died"

"He is a ninja it could be possible he was fighting at the time, your father was not the only swordsman" Shikamaru tried reasoning with her but she shook her head in protest.

"He was at the Chuunin exams at the time, I know this because Gaara was there which means the teacher would have been in Konoha at the time."

"Yes but you gave a broad range of time, it could be coincidence that he could have got it before the exams" Shikamaru tried the only thing he could, use logic to disprove her but she coughed and shook her head once more.

"What about he sword, is that not a coincidence then" she started a little bit calmer "Measuring 27 inches long and ⅝ inch thick, that was my father's sword." She held up the weapon in her hand quickly making the jeweled item on the handle swing at the sudden movement. "This sword made that scar, definite proof he killed my Father!" Katsura yelled but roughly coughed, Shikamaru could see that she was making her condition worse but there was nothing he could do.

"There are many other Katana's out there how do you know it was his" Shikamaru was beginning to become fearful for his friend even though he didn't show it on the outside.

"This was custom made for my father I would know it anywhere" She yelled making Shikamaru wince at the harshness, he really didn't want Temari to hear this. "Also the attack was made from my fathers specialty, it that not a coincidence as well."

Shikamaru knew when to admit defeat and he had to admit the evidence proving her theory was overwhelming so he tried a different approach. "What are you going to do?" He asked making Katsura's face drop and look a the ground the hand with her sword fell to her side still clutching the weapon.

"I don't know…" She trailed off, she hadn't though about what she could do, the day of the funeral ran through her mind "Stupid Naruto" she said quietly

"What?" Shikamaru asked slightly disappointed at the anticlimactic statement

"No matter what anyone says Naruto is a great ninja even if his skills aren't up to par with everyone else's, he is always there and he taught me to keep my promises…" She clenched her fist and looked over it as if remembering, she slightly smiled at her mini recreation of her friends pose. "Although I don't know if I can keep this promise"

"What promise is that?" Shikamaru asked thinking she was going to do something incredibly stupid.

"I made a promise to my father I would avenge his death at all costs" She dropped her hand and looked at her long time friend, water started to build up in her eyes. She quickly wiped it away she couldn't cry in front of anyone it would make her look weak. She put the strap over her shoulder and head to secure the weapon on her back.

"What are you going to do?" Shikamaru asked, he wanted to be there for his friend but being a ninja came first which means if she tried to do what he was think she would do he would have to stop her.

"I don't know" She answered and started to walk past him, "Just need to go for a second" She halted her walking just as she reached the door but didn't do it her self. "Shikamaru please release me" She asked coughing but unable to do anything because of the jutsu.

"I can't, you cannot do anything. He is on the council of Suna, you would risk war" Shikamaru said a bit too harsher then he wanted to but he needed to get this through to her.

"I know that" She answered unable to move to look at him. "Baki is more experienced then me, I may not admit defeat but I'm not an idiot, I would die if I took him on… I just need to think"

Shikamaru sighed and relaxed knowing his friend would not do anything but he kept up the shadow jutsu just in case. "you are too troublesome, why do I put up with you" he said joking usually he got some response of her saying that he would he lost with out her or how she would keep him entertained but not this time she didn't even respond to him but he heard coughing. "Stay here Katsura, don't do anything rash" Shikamaru said and waited for a response after a minute she quietly agreed and Shikamaru released her and she collapsed on the floor coughing while she tried to hold back tears.

He walked over to his friend and placed a hand on her shoulder wrapping his arm around her shoulders. He guided her to the bed and told her to sit down and wait for him. Katsura took off the weapon and set it down next to her on the bed. Shikamaru opened the door to find Temari and ran out looking for her, maybe she would know what to do or at least comfort her better then what he was doing. He searched the entire house looking for said troublesome woman but found it to be devoid of all other presence of people.

XXXXX

Temari raced down the sandy streets, weaving through people in the busy bazaar. She had heard everything and need to get to the Kazekage tower immediately, Gaara had to know as soon as possible. Temari did trust Katsura that she wouldn't do anything but this was the type of information the leader needed to know so he could deal with it.

She arrived at the tower and raced up the steps and down the halls passing people giving her questioning stares but none spoke to her, if the Kazekage's sister was in this must of a hurry then it must be really important. She stopped at the desk in the lobby if the offices and slammed her hand on the desk to get the attention of the doodling secretary who scrambled to hide her drawings. She looked up and pushed her hair out of her face to see who disturbed her.

"T-Temari-san what can I help you with?" She asked startled that the girl was here and looking tired indicating she was running in a hurry and the secretary didn't want to delay her.

"Minagi, is my brother in, it's urgent" the sand ninja asked impatiently

"Hai" she answered quickly "He doesn't have any appointments left so he is just working on paper work" She said hoping it was quick enough not to upset the kunochi.

Temari just ran down the hall not even responding to the secretary anymore. Minagi watched as he ran into the Kazekage's office. Once the door was closed she took out her paper once again and looked over her drawings making sure it was just right. But secretly she wanted to know what was so important that Temari herself needed to come down here and tell her brother herself.

XXXXX

**dun dun dun…. I just wanted to do that. Well another chapter down and it's a cliff hanger too, sorta.**

**Next Chapter: How will Gaara react to the news? What will Katsura do about her situation? Find out Same bat time same bat channel…. I don't remember writing that…. oh well**

**Please review, Arigato**


	8. Moon’s Tear

Thank you to Fanny-kun, Kankuro's puppet, Jokermask and Dragon of Twilight for the reviews.

Disclaimer: I do not own

"Talking"

'_**Shukaku talking'**_

'_thinking'_

**The Devil in the Pale Moonlight**

Chapter 8: Moon's Tear

Gaara sat at his desk listening to his sister's story about what Katsura and Shikamaru were just talking about. He didn't know that her father was dead and to make it worse Baki may have been the one to kill him during the chuunin exams around two years ago. This could complicate the peace between the two nations, if Katsura tried anything the council would force Gaara to take action and Konoha might retaliate. Once his sister was finished with the rushed story she looked at Gaara in question, he needed to figure out what to do to solve this matter. He turned his chair around to gaze out the window in deep thought. The was only one way to solve this problem, he needed to know the whole story. He stood up and nodded his head at Temari who sighed some what relieved that the problem was going to be taken care of.

"What are you going to do Gaara?" Temari asked calming down

"I will see to this problem personally…." He said quietly before walking out the door with Temari following a second later

XXXX

The two sand ninjas walked into the house to find Shikamaru laying on the couch as if he didn't have any cares in the world but his mind was really racing trying to figure out what to do. He opened his eyes and slowly sat up looking over the two who entered. Gaara just slightly nodded his head in acknowledgment before walking up the stairs to find the one causing this problem. Shikamaru moved over on the couch to make room for the blonde who wasn't really acting like her self as of right now. She sat next to him and crossed her arms, she looked at him with a blank expression.

"You know I heard everything" She spoke after a few seconds of silence

"I know… troublesome woman, I was looking for you so you could help Katsura" Shikamaru sat back as far as he could on the couch. "Good thing you brought Gaara back…. He can stop her from doing anything stupid" He stopped talking and looked at the girl sitting next to him she was now looking at the ground unsure of what to do now. "I guess I should tell you"

"huh?" She looked at him confused "Tell me what?"

"Katsura's father was murdered two years ago at the chuunin exams" He started which made the blondes eye widen in surprise.

XXXXX

Gaara was once again on the roof standing behind the saddened girl who was watching the sun slowly set, she had her sword on her back, this was the first time since she first arrived the Gaara had seen the weapon. He needed to figure out how to talk to her, he never really conversed much with people but this time the safety of the village was depending on it, the hidden sand may not be able to fend off the hidden leaf and war needed to be avoided.

"_**She is going to kill Baki" **_the demon spoke harshly in his head but the kazekage ignored him _**"Are you going to let her murder the only one who accepts you?" **_

"_Since when do you care about what people think of me?" _Gaara retorted in his mind

The demon laughed _**"I don't I was merely informing you that she is going to betray you, just like everyone else" **_Gaara scoffed, he didn't care about what other people have done, it was the past and people change Gaara himself was proof of that. _**"We could kill her now so she cannot follow through with her plans…"**_

"_No! She wont do anything" _Gaara rationalized in his mind, he shook his head to rid himself of the demon plaguing his thoughts.

He sat down next to the girl who didn't say anything or made any effort to let him know she saw him. Neither spoke to each other, the brunette girl kept her eyes on the lowering sun while the red head did the same but would occasionally look at his companion. That was one big difference between the two, Katsura would keep talking until the other would speak but Gaara would remain silent and wait until the other person wanted to speak. The sun was almost completely beyond the horizon by the time Katsura opened her mouth.

"I take it you know…" She still didn't make an effort to look at him

"Hai…. Temari told me your theory" Gaara looked at the girl next to him, it was weird not seeing her smile or at least try to be happy, part of Gaara became saddened by her wretched expression as she watched the sky.

"And you want to know everything…. right?" She asked still not looking at the older boy

"Hai… I wish to solve this matter quickly" He confessed remaining stoic while watching her face to try and read her.

She looked at the ground below them as if she was avoiding looking at the boy next to her. "My fathers name was Gekkou Hayate and he was killed during the chuunin exams two year ago, the one with the attack…." she trailed off making Gaara actually feel bad, it was partly his fault the attack occurred. He silently cursed his own father who used him as a weapon. "I still remember the day I found out…." Katsura said as if her mind was a thousand miles away.

_Flashback_

"_KATSURA IF YOU DON'T GET UP RIGHT NOW I'LL MAKE SURE YOU'LL BE DOING D RANK MISSIONS FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!!!" a loud voice rang though the Gekkou house hold making Katsura jump up and scramble out of the covers to get ready as quick as she could. Once she was fully dressed in her blue pants and red shirt she walked out to see her mom, Uzuki Yugao, making some type food for breakfast, she was dressed in her typical ANBU attire minus the mask which rested on the table. _

"_Glad to know your alive" She smiled at her daughter, her and Hayate were never married for some reason but they lived together and had a child, of course Katsura was a "joyful surprise" as her mom puts it. She placed a plate on the table just as Katsura sat down._

"_Sorry if I was tired, I couldn't fall asleep…" Katsura said as she grabbed the chopsticks and began eating._

"_And why couldn't you fall asleep" Her mom asked slyly sitting on the chair across from her, she leaned her head on her hand the was propped up on the table. She smirked when her daughter choked on the juice she was drinking at the time._

"_W'-well I-I" she stuttered "Um, maybe I'm getting sick. Yeah, I'm sick" She coughed twice which was so obvious it was fake. Yugao kept smirking at her daughter and chuckled when she avoided eye contact with the ANBU member. _

"_Next time you sneak out, you should be quieter" Yugao laughed at her daughter when she looked up with her mouth gaped. _

"_You knew?" The young girl asked sheepishly_

"_Yup, I'm surprised that anyone didn't catch you. I told ANBU to keep a look out as soon as you left." She lifted her head up and crossed her arms smiling. "So who did you see? Gemma or Jubei?" _

"_Some one else…." She looked at her mom who looked very curious now "A boy I met a few weeks ago"_

"_A boy? I don't think I'm too comfortable with you sneaking out in the middle of the night to see to some boy" Her mother said protectively_

"_It's not like that" Katsura waved her hand frantically in front of her, smiling "He's just a friend, I think…" She looked at the table as if thinking "sorta…maybe… I don't know but I just talked to him last night…. well he didn't talk but you know" She looked up and smiled at her mom opting to leave out a few other details. She was very lucky that her mom was an understanding person and trusted her. _

"_So who is he?" Yugao asked as if she was a teenager again. "Is he cute?" she smirked when Katsura's face turned bright red._

"_He's from Suna…. His name is __Sabuku no Gaara" She said avoiding the last question, after all she didn't want to talk to her mom about boys, that could get awkward. _

"_hmm, Gaara…. yes your father mentioned him. He said he was one of the strongest during the preliminary matches" Yugao recalled what her lover said when he talked about the exams. "I think he was up against Gai's taijutsu student…. Lee I think his name is" _

_A small smile crossed Katsura's lips, she was happy to hear that he did so well during the exams. She wished she could have seen the fight first hand but wasn't able to thanks to an arrogant Jubei. "Where is dad anyway?" Katsura asked noticing he wasn't anywhere around_

"_He was on patrol last night, maybe had to talk to the Hokage or was asked to work late or something" Her mom said nonchalantly, this type of thing was not unusual. Her mom had more to asked about the boy her daughter met up with but was interrupted by a knock on the door. She crossed the room and opened the door. _

"_What are you doing here?" Yugao asked and invited the three masked ANBU men in, they were dressed in full gear. The main one glanced at Katsura siting at the table and Yugao nodded in understanding. _

"_Katsura, don't you have to get ready for something" Her mom said to dismiss her daughter._

"_That's right, I'm training with Gemma today" Katsura raced out of the room to get ready or so it seemed. She wasn't a child anymore, or at least she thought so, she realized something was wrong and secretly waited by the door that exited from the room. She was able to glance into the room to see her mom and one of the ANBU members sit down on the table while the other two masked ANBU stood behind him. _

"_Yugao, this morning several ANBU members discovered something very important…" The main one spoke up gravely. _

"_What is it?" The purple haired woman asked growing nervous with every passing second. One of the masked men placed a long item on the table, Katsura recognized it as her fathers sword. _

"_They found the body of Hayate this morning…. I'm sorry" The main member said_

_Katsura's heart sank to the deepest pits of hell once those words left his mouth. She could feel the tears run down her face although she made no noise. She watched as her mom buried her face into her hands, her whole body shook with sobs. Katsura closed her eyes and turned away walking into her room that sight was killing her, she had never once in her life seen her mom cry. Once she got into her room she tried to stop crying, now more then ever she needed to be strong for the sake of her mother, she saw her sword and started to cry harder, it reminded her of her father. She fell to the ground crying as hard as she could, there was no way her father was actually dead. This had to be a dream, thats what is was. She was going to wake up any second to her mom yelling and her dad was going to help her with her sword fighting. She started coughing, tears still fell down her face as she brought up her hand to cover her mouth, the coughing usually subsided but this time it didn't. She coughed even harder unable to stop, she felt something on her hand and looked down, it was blood. Her eyes widened in fear, she had never coughed up blood before. She was still crying as the coughing started again and more blood poured out of her mouth. She saw two figures standing in her doorway, she could distantly hear her mom's voice cry out yelling something about bleeding and hospital. _

_XXXXX_

_Katsura woke up to bright light and let her eyes adjust, she had a pounding headache and the taste of blood filled her mouth. She sat up slowly feeling extremely sore, as she looked around she realized she was in a hospital. A sleeping ANBU member with a bear mask and purple hair sitting on a chair next to the bed, Katsura knew it was her mom. She coughed quietly which made her mom wake up and take off her mask, she had a sad smile on her face and dried tears streaked her cheeks, she shot up and hugged her daughter as hard as she could. _

"_Don't ever do that again, Kat." Her mother only used that nickname when she was possessive of her daughter and Katsura allowed only her to call her that. "You had me so worried" She didn't want to let go of her daughter, it was the only thing she had left now. After a while she reluctantly released her child and sat down at the edge of the hospital bed. Yugao knew that her daughter has heard the news about Hayate. Katsura was unsure of what to say to her mom. _

"_Is it true?" Katsura asked looking at the sheets her voice was barely above a whisper._

"_I'm afraid so…" Her mom said placing her hand on top of her daughters. She noticed how much Katsura looked like Hayate, She had the same hair as him and the same smile as well as condition. She looked up to her father, thats why she studied that way of the sword. Yugao got off the bed and walked over to the chair. "Hokage-sama said the funeral will be held after the exams" She said as she grabbed something from behind the chair. She walked over to the bed once again and placed a sword on her daughters lap. "He would want you to have it."_

_Katsura stared at her fathers sheathed weapon before she grabbed it and brought close to her heart. She cried silently, her mom wrapped her arms around her. They both sat in silence,as the tears rolled down their faces. They both knew they where the only family left for each other._

_End Flashback_

Katsura was still looking at the ground below unable to say anything else. Her eyes stung from tears she refused to cry. "I believe it was Baki-san who killed my father that night" she spoke with a broken voice as she coughed quietly. "All the evidence from that scar supports it"

Gaara looked at the darkening sky, a few lights were beginning to sparkle silently above them. "...what...what are you going to do?" Gaara asked unsure of what needed to be said. She coughed before responding.

"There is nothing I can do…. It's that past I guess. Although I may never be able to face Baki-san if it were true"

"I will speak to him, don't do anything rash until then" Gaara said in a stern voice, he needed to make sure nothing would happen but he also needed to figure out what to do if it were true. Gaara looked at the girl who refused to look at him, she nodded her head and wiped her eyes.

"Arigato…" She said and for the first time that day she looked at Gaara's pale green eyes, her own brown ones were filled with water that needed to be shed but refused to. He felt his heart ache seeing her in this sad state. She looked away feeling her eyes water even more, she couldn't cry in front of anyone again especially the Kage of Suna. He felt hurt when she stopped looking at him but didn't say anything instead he placed his hand on her shoulder shyly. He had seen Temari do this several times to people who were crying although he couldn't really see how this could help. Katsura slowly looked up to face him, his face remained stoic but his eyes held sympathy behind them. That awkward look of condolence that Gaara held on his face broke down Katsura's walls and tears pored out unable to stop. She grabbed onto Gaara vest and buried her face into his chest while crying not caring how weak she looked anymore. Gaara's eyes widened he had no clue of what he needed to do, he never had to deal with anyone who was crying before. He patted her back once knowing thats what Temari would do, sort of. Katsura looked up and let go of her grip.

"Gomen…" She spoke tears unable to stop from falling as she lifted her head away from the boy. Gaara felt cold once she was gone from him but maybe that was just the air hitting the tears on his shirt. He looked at the girl who wouldn't look at him again, he felt pain in his chest as he watched her cry.

"It's okay" Gaara said voice devoid of all emotion he placed his hand on her shoulder again to indicate it was really okay. Katsura slowly leaned on his shoulder when he dropped his hand, Gaara felt odd with her doing this but allowed her to none the less. Tears still fell down her face but she felt better just being around Gaara.

"_**We could kill her so easily now, she vulnerable" **_Shukaku made his presents known _**"If not she will betray you"**_

Gaara ignored the demon and suppressed it to the back of his mind__He looked up as the stars were coming out, he needed to talk to Temari about how to handle the situation but he didn't want to disturb Katsura who was starting to calm down. So he just sat there and looked at the new night sky as the girl leaning on him slowly stopped crying.

XXXXX

Kankuro walked down the streets mumbling to himself. The council was too busy to speak with him today so he ended up sitting in the lobby for the most part of the day, after a while he left and spent the rest of the day training. As he walked up to the house he shared with his siblings he saw something above him. Looking up he saw Gaara and Katsura on the roof but what was strange was Katsura was leaning on Gaara as he looked up at the sky. A cheshire cat sized grin appeared on his painted face as he walked inside chuckling to himself.

XXXXX

**So now you know who her parents are, this is where things from the anime will start to change. For example both Hayate and Yugao are older then they were in the anime and Yugao is now not one of the people to find Hayate's body. Also I start school on Tuesday so I'm not sure how fast I will be able to update once I do, Thats why I worked really hard to get these chapters done fast. **

**Next Chapter: What is Kankuro up to? How will this effect Katsura and Gaara's relation ship? What does the Doctor really want?**

**Please review, Arigato**


	9. Date?

Thank you to Kankuro's puppet, Dragon of Twilight, fanny-kun, Greywolf09, Jokermask and Rohain Tahquil for the reviews.

Disclaimer: how many times do I have to say it, I don't own and never will. If I did Gaara would still be evil but I don't so he is not…. tear

"Talking"

'_**Shukaku talking'**_

'_thinking'_

**The Devil in the Pale Moonlight**

Chapter 9: Date?

"Oh come on, your telling me you haven't noticed? Not even a little?" Kankuro stood in front his sister and the lazy shadow boy from Konoha practically spelling out what has been going on.

"Kankuro I really think you are seeing something out of nothing" Temari stated crossing her arms at the annoying ninja standing in front of her.

"This is all too troublesome…" Shikamaru said rolling his eyes.

"Yeah well I know I am right!" Kankuro declared "I'll prove it too"

XXXXX

Katsura awoke the morning after, her cheeks still stained with tears. She remembered after she calmed down a bit the night before she went to bed leaving Gaara outside. She felt bad about crying in front of him but she couldn't hold back, she only prayed that Gaara would understand and would talk to her again. She sat up in her bed, feeling oddly better. Those feelings of regret and guilt had been building for so long and she felt a lot better now that they were gone for the most part.

She got off the bed and proceeded to get ready, it seemed that the illness was subsiding for the most part which meant that she would be able to travel back home sooner. Once she was finished she grabbed her sword and forehead protector tying it on and strapping her weapon to her back, she really missed having it on and after last night she wanted to be close to it.

She headed down stairs to see who was still here, as she wondered down the stairs she heard voices she recognized Kankuro's right away. She coughed when she reached the bottom, Kankuro stopped talking and looked at her smiling, Katsura raised and eyebrow at the strange boy. _"What is he up to?" _she thought knowing Kankuro wouldn't smile for no reason. She eyed him and walked over and stood next to where Shikamaru was sitting. Temari got off the couch and walked into the kitchen but not before smacking Kankuro outside the head on the way. As the puppeteer rubbed his head gingerly to address the offended wound a grasp could be heard coming from the blonde who left the room. She walked back in a bit mad with a bento box in hand.

"I can't believe Gaara left the lunch I made him" The wind girl said to her brother as if it were his fault.

"I don't blame him" Shikamaru commented offhandedly

Temari growled and glared at the shadow boy "Yeah well I got to take it to him, and it was my day off I didn't want to go to the tower today"

"I'll go!" Katsura jumped at the opportunity to leave the house without getting killed

Kankuro elbowed his older sister and smirked at her, she shook her head and smacked her own forehead in frustration. Katsura watched very confused as to why the sand ninjas were so acting peculiar today.

"I don't think that would be a good i-" Temari started but was cut off by Kankuro grabbing her and placing both hands over her mouth. The painted ninja smiled at what was going on as Shikamaru shook his own head and muttered his dismay.

"Of course it would be a great idea, here" He used one of the hands to pick the box from Temari's grip and toss it to Katsura who caught it at ease, she looked up confused as to why he was being nice today. She could hear Temari protest but Kankuro actually had a strong grip on her although her anger was visible. Katsura walked out the front door into the fresh air of the hot desert. She smiled happily and started down the street coughing lightly every once and a while.

Back at the household Kankuro finally let his sister go which may have been a mistake. Temari spun around as fast as she could and punched the younger of the siblings right in the face. Kankuro stumbled back holding his nose, she looked up and saw Temari had grabbed her fan. Panicking he took off running down the hallway with the blonde in hot pursuit. Some one had knocked on the front door, Shikamaru looked around but could find no traces of any other occupants, he sighed and got up to answer the door. When it was open he wished he had just ignored it because there stood the man he so hated in Suna, Dr. Shiro. When the doctor saw who it was he smirked at the other man.

"Is Temari-chan home?"

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes then turned to look inside the house. All he heard was crashing and the occasional profanity and screamed by Kankuro but he couldn't see where they had run off too. He turned to look at the doctor who stood in front of him.

"She's a little busy right now" He said trying to sound bored

"Oh…. well I could talk to you." The black haired man said smiling coyly. "How would you like to meet up later? I don't think Temari-chan would mind."

"_Is he challenging me? this is too troublesome why would he want to fight…. wait does he think I like Temari…. ugh too troublesome I will have to explain to him that- wait does that mean he likes Temari…." _Shikamaru's mind raced all the while glaring at the person in front of him "Fine, where?" The leaf ninja finally spoke.

"Meet in front of the Kazekage's tower in one hour" He said before he turned and walked away. Shikamaru closed the door sighing. He then caught a glimpse of brown run past and push him from behind, he accidently collided with the older girl and knocked her over. Kankuro laughed at his sister misfortune. Shikamaru reached his hand out towards the wind girl who accepted and stood off the ground.

"Now why did you let Katsura go? I mean what happened yesterday with Baki…" Temari asked haughtily.

"I told you I gunna prove my theory" He answered with a mischievous smirk. The other two rolled their eyes at the ninja. "Come on you can't tell me you don't see it? There is something going on between Gaara and Kat."

He crossed his arms and turned from the other two pouting, he was forced to turn back around after he was hit in the head with a flying shoe.

"Don't call her that" Temari yelled while the lazy boy gave her a questioning look. She shrugged "She's not here to yell at him and I wanted to. Anyways there is nothing going on. I would have noticed."

"Yeah, Kankuro I don't Katsura has ever had a crush before let alone have one on Gaara" Shikamaru replied uninterested

"What is that suppose to mean Crybaby?!? He's my brother, what's wrong with him!?" Temari gave Shikamaru the third degree.

"Troublesome…"

"Well I know there is something. you'll see" Kankuro said before walking off to his work shop to work on one of his puppets. Temari rolled her eyes ad sighed before her turned to Shikamaru.

"Do you want to go get lunch later?"

"I have plans…." Shikamaru said making Temari's face drop but he chose to ignore it.

XXXXX

Katsura reached the tower in no time, she was just so glad to be out of the house This entire time of her first trip to this village was spend stuck inside. Of course she thought she would already be home by now but she was slightly glad that her plans have changed. She stopped abruptly and sneezed very loudly, "_Weird I don't normally sneeze and there is nothing here to make me….. someone must be talking about me, probably Kankuro… he's up to something" _Katsura thought while she walked into the Kazekage tower.

The walked up to the lobby where Gaara's office is and heard some one clear their throat. She turned to the source and saw the secretary sitting at her desk glaring at her. She coughed silently and laughed nervously, she forgot that she was mean to the secretary before. She walked up to the desk and rubbed the back of her neck before she talked.

"I'm here to see Gaara"

"He's in his office right now…. working. so you can't see him now" She replied snidely

"Oh, well I can wait I have his lunch" Katsura smiled and held up the box, the secretary went back to drawing and ignored the girl in front of her. Katsura just looked at her and decided to be nice this time. "I want to apologize for last time, I shouldn't have been so mean. My name is Katsura" She extended to her hand for a handshake up the secretary shot her a hateful look.

"I know exactly who you are…. we all do" She said glaring at the ninja "Your the new girl who came into town to steal Gaara-sama from us"

"Us? and what do you mean steal?" Katsura looked weirdly at the girl.

"You know what I mean, you come into town and stay at Gaara-sama's house we know what your up to." She replied never taking her eyes off the other girl "Your going to take our Gaara-sama away from us"

"No! It's not like that I swear" She waved her hands in front of her "He's letting me stay at his house because I'm sick thats all" She told the other to reassure

The secretary seemed to think for a second before she smiled slightly. "All right if there is nothing going on then I'm sorry, My name is Minagi" She reached out at shook Katsura's hand.

Katsura looked down at the desk to see what the secretary was drawing and was stunned so see it was Gaara on the paper. She grabbed the paper and noticed it was really good, almost professional.

"Wow your good but why are you drawing Gaara?" Katsura asked Minagi

"Well I am part of the Gaara-sama fangirl club…. you wouldn't believe how many girls I had to beat to get this job" She smile while Katsura raised her eyebrows in shock. she didn't know Gaara had fangirls let alone they had a club.

"Oh, could I go give him his lunch now" She asked wanting to get away from the girl

"I guess but don't be too long he has a lot to do today."

Katsura gave the picture back and walked down the hall way after she finished her sentence. She didn't want to be anywhere near the secretary right now because fangirls are really weird. She walked into his office to see him behind a desk with piles of paper work on each side. He was writing with haste, he didn't even take notice of her until she coughed. Katsura smiled at the young Kazekage and brought him the lunch she was here to deliver. He looked at the box on his desk and raised an invisible eyebrow.

"Temari made you lunch" Katsura said as if it were obvious

"I'm not eating that" Gaara said before he resumed his paper work. Katsura sighed then coughed.

"Temari made this just for you" She said innocently.

"Don't care" Gaara said not even looking up

"You know you have to eat something" Katsura said sternly making Gaara up look at her with a blank expression but it still made Katsura feel uncomfortable.

"Fine, I'll go get something" Gaara said slightly annoyed, he closed his eyes for second and stopped working after he slowly opened them. Katsura turned to start walking out the door but stopped when Gaara asked her a question. "Are you going to join me or not?"

"Umm, sure I will wait out here until you are ready to leave" She said knowing that me probably wanted to finish what he was working on before she walked in. She walked out into the lobby closing the door behind her and sat down on one of the chairs, the secretary eyed her for a second.

"What's going on?" She asked trying to pry

"Me and Gaara are going to get something to eat" Katsura replied shrugging, the secretary fumed at the comment.

"You liar! you said there was nothing going on" She yelled while Katsura looked stunned beyond word at how bipolar the secretary was acting. "You are here to steal Gaara-sama away! I was suppose to end up with him, I fought so many girls to get this job and he was suppose to fall in love with me because he would see I hard I work for him and that I really care about him!"

Katsura just sat there with her mouth gaped at the other girl, there was no possible way to respond to something like that. Finally she came to her senses and spoke. "We are just going to get something to eat, its no big deal"

"Yes it is, you come here and act all innocent and whatnot just so you can steal Gaara-sama away form us, especially me!" The secretary yelled and slammed her fists against the desk making Katsura jump. A single paper fell off and glided through the air landing just in front of Katsura's feet, she slowly picked up the paper and looked over it. It was another picture of a person, an outline to be specific, but Katsura noticed the body build was too big to be Gaara, she looked at the secretary who was calming down a bit, Katsura walked over and gave the picture to her without getting too close to the fangirl. She had met a few Sasuke fangirls back in Konoha and found that they were nuts, she didn't even want to imagine how Gaara fangirls were when they were mad. Minagi took the paper out of her hands and placed it on her desk, looking at Katsura in the eye she spoke.

"I hope you have fun on your date" She said with venom dripping off every syllable.

"It's not a date, we're just getting lunch its nothing" Katsura tried reassuring the other person but the said person didn't believe anything she said making an awkward silence fall on Katsura while the secretary glared trying to kill the other person via telekinesis or so it seemed. Finally after what felt like an eternity the door open and Gaara walked out dressed in his usual attire without the robes.

Gaara walked passed the two girls without saying a word. Katsura started walking after him. She could feel the hate radiating off the other girl as they exited the office and walking down the street. Minagi walked to the window and watched the two walked out of eye sight, she silently cursed and crossed her arms glaring into the distance. She then saw some one else walking up to the tower, she smiled when she recognized him as the boy that was with the Gaara-stealer. She fixed her hair a bit hoping he would walking to the tower but he stood outside. Then another person walked up and started talking to him, she knew that man as Dr. Shiro suddenly everything clicked together. _"Thats why he didn't like me, makes sense" _she thought before walking to her desk to finished her 'paperwork'.

XXXXX

Shikamaru stood outside waiting for the other man to fight, he really didn't have any clue why he was going through with it in the first place, he didn't even like Temari… right? He brushed all thoughts out of his mind when the doctor walked up, strangely he was dressed nice, not like he was going out to fight.

"I thought we could get something to eat so we could talk" The doctor said as a greeting and Shikamaru sighed as he walked next to the doctor until they reached the nearest diner type restaurant and sat down in the booth. Shikamaru kept glaring the whole time, there was something about the doctor that just didn't sit right with him.

"So Shikamaru, why don't you tell me about yourself?" Shiro said as he eyed over the menu

"Troublesome…. I live in Konoha and am a Chuunin…. not much to really say." He replied while shrugging

"well this isn't going to be easy" Shiro mumbled and placed his chin on the palm of his hand that was propped up on the table. Shikamaru eyed him weirdly as the waitress brought out two glasses of water.

"What isn't going to be easy?" He asked causally as he took a sip of his water.

"this date" Shiro said simply making Shikamaru spit out the water and cough in surprise. He looked at the other guy at the table as he wiped his mouth of the water that trickled down.

"Date?" Shikamaru said surprised, making Shiro smile and rub the back of his head, his face turned a bright red realizing there had been some confusion.

"Yeah, or at least I though it was" He chuckled and waited for a response from the other person

"Why would you think that!" He said rather loudly

"Well I though you were flirting with me… Temari-chan said you are rude when you flirt and you don't have any interest in her so I thought maybe…." He trailed off letting the genius fill in the rest. "What did you think this was?"

"I thought you wanted to fight because you wanted Temari" He said with slight annoyance in his voice.

"Fight? you thought that I… Do _you _like Temari-chan?" The doctor said a bit suspiciously

"No, she is too troublesome" He said with his face turing the slightest shade of pink. _"She said I'm rude when I flirt but that should mean she thinks I flirt with her…." _Shiro smirked at the leaf ninja. He decided to get some more information out of him while they were out.

XXXXX

Katsura and Gaara had just finished their meal and were waiting for the check. Gaara had barley spoken the entire time while Katsura kept babbling like an idiot to try and get some type conversation out of the stoic kage in front of her. The waiter approached the table and placed the check down before leaving without say anything to them, Katsura noted the bad service at this place. The whole staff seemed to avoid their table at any time possible. She looked over the place and saw a few people staring and others whispering. _"What are they talking about…. could it be me, is there something wrong with my outfit? hmmm" _

As she looked back at Gaara who had taken out enough money to pay for the entire bill, Katsura coughed and shook her head which caught the attention of the red head.

"I'll pay for me" Katsura smiled at him but he put the money down as if he didn't hear her, she decided to speak again. "I said I'll pay for myself" She reached for the check but her hand was hit away but a swift movement of sand.

"I heard you" Gaara said, some of the whispering increased and Katsura could have sworn she heard Garra's name but just ignored it. Gaara glared at the direction of the hushed people and silence fell over the restaurant. The two stood up and Gaara promptly walked outside making Katsura blink in confusion before following him. The two walked out the street and through the busy bizarre on their way to the Sabuku manor. Katsura was eyeing everything as she passed and remembered she still didn't get a souvenir to take back home. She passed by a stand and noticed it was the same that she passed on her first day, she ran up and saw the same necklace that was hanging up, the one with the crescent moon. Gaara stood a few feet in front and scowled when she ran back to the stand.

"So you here to buy it this time?" The old shop keeper smiled at the young girl.

"No, I still don't have enough but I can still admire it right?" She jokingly but coughed slightly.

"yeah, you can…" He chuckled but stopped when a certain red headed leader walked up with a scowl on his face. "K-Kazekage-sama, w-what can I help you with?" He said nervously, Katsura looked up to the old man, he looked as if he had just seen a ghost. His face paled and sweat formed on his brow, his legs were shaking so much it was a miracle he was able to stand.

"No" Gaara said with no expression, his eyes were fixed on the piece of jewelry the two were talking about. He didn't what all the fuss was about if was some stupid moon. He looked up to face the man and his heart ached as the scared expression written all over his face. All he wanted was for people to see him for who he is now not how he was as a child, he changed but the people didn't. Gaara turned and walked away, he had seen enough for today now he wanted to go home.

Katsura tilted her head in confusion and waved goodbye before following Gaara again. She walked a little bit behind him and this time paid close attention to the passerby's. She heard many whispered conversations about Gaara, she heard every name they called him. The adults would call him a monster and the teens would say he was a murderer, Katsura didn't know why they would do this but she knew one thing… if she can hear them, then so could Gaara.

XXXXX

**Alright another chapter done I hope this one made you laugh a bit…. maybe?? anyway just to say I have nothing against fangirls (hell I am one) but I thought it would be funny to have Katsura be terrified of the secretary. Another side note I was looking up some things about Naruto and I found out that Akira Ishida, who is the voice of Gaara is also an actor in the anime GinTama and he plays….. Katsura Kotarou, who is where I got my characters name from, is that a coincidence or what my jaw hit the floor when I found out because when i watched that anime for some reason I instantly liked that name for my character now I know why. Sorry I'm way too excited about that. anyway….**

**Next Chapter: What will happen when they return to the house? How will Temari feel about Shikamaru's "date"? **

**Please Review, Arigato**

**P.S. this chapter is dedicated to my Boyfriend who had the idea of the chapter. Also the "Kanky bashing" in this chapter is for Fanny-kun… he got hit in the head with a shoe I hope your happy now.**


	10. Shadow Puppet: Shika and Kanky’s Guide

Thank you to Kankuro's puppet, fanny-kun, watergoddess555, Silmarion, Fallen Angel3579 and Jokermask for the reviews.

Disclaimer: waiting…. nope I still don't own Naruto

"Talking"

'_**Shukaku talking'**_

'_thinking'_

**The Devil in the Pale Moonlight**

Chapter 10: Shadow Puppet: Shika and Kanky's Guide to Romance

Shikamaru trudged back to the Sabuku manor in a foul mood, the day was not anything he had expected and it still wasn't over. He walked into the house and noticed that no one else was around which was a good sign that no one would know what he did. For the first time in his life he felt like an idiot. He slowly searched the house to find any one else but to no avail until he reached the kitchen. Once he walked in he saw a painted man with the a wrapped up puppet leaning against the table not too far way. The lazy leaf decided to sit with him for some type of company which turned out to be a huge mistake. Kankuro smiled when the vacant seat next to him was filled, he looked up from his food to give an devious grin to the genius.

"So how'd it go?" Kankuro said as innocent as a cat with feathers in his mouth

"What? Quit being so troublesome" The lazy boy drawled

"What you didn't have fun on your date? I hope you didn't let him get to first base" Kankuro teased while trying to hold back a grin. "You didn't know he was…. did you?" Kankuro raised his eyebrows at the pause.

"Shut up… and no so it wasn't a date" Shikamaru glared at the other

"Really then what was it?" Kankuro raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I thought he wanted to fight" Shikamaru admitted

"Konoha must be a friendly place I mean the guys winked at you and you though he wanted to fight. I mean I'm not very friendly to any guy that I want to beat up. What happens if you want to kill them?"

"How did you find out anyway?" Shikamaru chose to ignore the puppet masters question

"Temari forced me to go shopping with her today, I escaped the first chance I got but not before we saw the happy couple" Kankuro slapped Shikamaru's shoulder in jest the other was zoned out, he definitely didn't want Temari to find out but now it was too late. He sighed in defeat and leaned back in his chair and shoved his hands in his pockets ignoring Kankuro's snide remarks. Both males looked up when they heard some one clear their throat loudly. They looked up to see Temari standing in the door way holding a few over sized bags filled with god knows what. She dropped them on the floor and walked over to Kankuro who smiled sheepishly at his older sister. She grabbed a fistful of his shirt and pulled him up so he was eye level with her.

"You ditched me today" She said glaring at him

Kankuro chuckled nervously "well you see…" he was cut off by a particularly nasty glare from the wind user. He gave a cheesy smile as the older girl relinquished her grip os him. He slowly got up and walked around her once he was out of arms reach he sprinted for the exit. Temari let him go this time, she could always deal with the baka later. The blonde had some questions that needed to be answered and she would rather not have Kankuro remarking at every chance he got. She sat down in the seat that was previously her brothers and turned to face Shikamaru, she needed to talk to him and decided that she should do it fast, quick and painless...hopefully.

"I saw you with Shiro today…. I mean I didn't know that you…. That is when he said he thought you were flirting with him I was going to make fun of you but I didn't know you were really…. like…that." Temari tried stuttering through the sentence, she looked up at the leaf boy who glared and slammed his fist on the table in a very un-Shikamaru fashion.

"I.AM.NOT.GAY" He spoke each word slowly and locked eyes with Temari. The sand kunochi looked at his face intently and saw that he was telling the truth. Her face softened and a smirk crossed her lips, she got up from the table and started to leave but turned around and crossed her arms.

"One could only assume you were, with all your talking about women being too troublesome" She teased as the other scowled. She dropped her arms and was planning on turning to leave but found she was unable to move, she had a familiar sense about what just happened. Her eyes traced the ground and sure enough she was trapped in Shikamaru's Kagemane, she could see her shadow being controlled by the other. Shikamaru was already standing up and facing the girl, he had enough of the constant teasing of the girl and was looking to put an end to it.

He took a step forward and sure enough Temari had no choice but to walk closer as well. Once the gap was closed with a few more steps, he let her out of his technique but he was surprised when she didn't leave or even hit him. Shikamaru slowly wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close to him so not even air could pass between the two. He leaned her back in a dip, instinctively Temari gently placed her own arms around his neck. They both closed their eyes and leaned closer to each other. Temari could feel the shadow users breath gently on her lips and she waited with baited breath for the moment to finally come. Shikamaru started moving in closer to close the last few inches.

"WHAT THE HELL?!?!?" A loud roar filled the house and Shikamaru lost his grip on the girl making her hit the floor with a THUD. Shikamaru looked up to see an extremely peeved Kankuro staring at them horrified. The leaf ninja took a few steps back and Kankuro continued to glare at him. After a while he sighed and grabbed his wrapped up puppet he had come back for and tucked it under his arm.

"I guess every one is paring up now, it looks like its just me and you again, Karasu" He walked out of the room once more muttering under his breath.

"There is no way in hell I'm related to that" Temari stated as she got up off the floor and dusted her self off. Shikamaru went back to his bored expression and turned to the girl. She glared at him once before walking over to the sink to get a glass of water. She filled up the said glassware and took a big drink trying to ignore the approaching ninja.

"Temari, that was only to prove a point" The lazy one said, Temari was a bit shocked that he used her name in stead of just woman or troublesome or something along those lines.

"No need to explain it was something that was only in the moment" She set down her half full glass but accidentally hit it with her hand causing the water to spill on the counter. Both teens went to clean it up, Shikamaru grabbed the glass and Temari rushed for a towel, when she set the towel down Shikamaru started talking.

"Your right, it was just the moment" He looked at her but couldn't help himself form thinking about how beautiful she was. "We wouldn't want to do something we would regret" He subconsciously leaned into her but since she was farther away then before he set his hand on the counter.

"Yeah your right" Temari said surprisingly soft and leaned in as well. She closed her eyes again and waited for him to make his move. Shikamaru got closer to her and his heart beat faster, this time it felt like it was for real. They both wanted it even though their pride would never allow them to say it aloud. There was a few inches in between them when a soft cough broke through. That small sound made Shikamaru's hand move too much and it slipped on the water soaked towel. His head crashed into Temari's and he fell face first on the floor the glass that was in his hand shattered. Temari grabbed her forehead that now stung and took a few steps back.

"What the hell is wrong with you Nara" She yelled in anger. Shikamaru slowly lifted his head and set it on a propped arm not even bothering to try and get off the floor. He looked at what had disturbed his moment and to no surprise he saw a blushing Katsura standing with a slightly confused looking Kazekage.

He then looked up at a pissed and injured Temari and sighed. "Woman why do you have to be so troublesome?" He drawled on as if nothing happened. He finally decided to get off the ground and dust himself off all the while glaring between the blonde sand ninja and the intruders.

"So…" Katsura interrupted the petty argument. "Would you say she is the most troublesome woman you have ever met?" She asked trying to be sly and coughed.

"Ye-" Shikamaru started but narrowed his eyes at the brunette who was smiling at him. "No, she's not"

Katsura smiled even more, if it was possible, and looked at Gaara who was confused more then ever. She laughed at how adorable he looked with his head slightly tilted, eyes looking utterly confused and his non existent eyebrows scrunched together. She leaned into him and whispered "I'll explain later"

"Gaara, shouldn't you be at the Kazekage tower now?" Temari asked trying to get them to forget what just happened. Her forehead was still red from when the collision occurred.

"Since when is it your business what I do?" Gaara responded not on an overly harsh manor but it was enough to Temari would know to not ask questions. She knew something like that was code word for 'it was a bad day' or 'I just needed to leave'.

"Sorry just thought I would ask" Temari said putting her arms up defensively "So what did you do today if you weren't at the tower?"

"Me and Gaara went to lunch" Katsura answered for him knowing he would ignore his sister.

"Oh?" Temari said while thinking of what Kankuro had talked about earlier. She smiled and walked over to Katsura, the blonde wrapped and arm over Katsura's shoulders and started walking away from the others. "We need to talk for a sec"

The two girls left the room, one with a mischievous smirk that seemed to be a trade mark of the Sabuku siblings and the other looking fairly scared of what was about to happen. Shikamaru looked over at Gaara and shoved his in his pocket not wanting to say anything. The older boy walked out of the room and into the next, he then laid on the couch one leg thrown across the arm the other hung off the edge, he put his hands under his head and closed his eyes. He could feel Gaara enter the room as well and sit on the chair near him. Nether would speak and a very awkward silence fell over them. _'How Troublesome. If he's not going to say anything they why did he come in here?' _

Shikamaru sighed and cast his eyes on Gaara "Even though it's a pain, Katsura is still like a sister…. I want to make sure you have good intentions with her"

"Like your intentions with my sister?" Gaara asked in a sincere voice.

"Fair enough" Shikamaru sighed once more and looked up at the ceiling.

"What _are_ your intentions?" Gaara asked genuinely curious. Shikamaru opened one eye and craned his neck to look at Gaara who innocently looked back at him.

"W-what do you mean?" Shikamaru's voice took a worried tone

"I never learned about love." Gaara said as he looked off. "Uzumaki Naruto taught me about love as in friendship and companions, but I still know nothing about _love_ love" Gaara looked back at him with wondering eyes.

Shikamaru's eyes widened as he realized where this conversion could be heading He sat up in a hurry. "K-KANKURO!" he yelled to get Gaara's brother out here. "KANKURO!!"

The middle Sabuku sibling came running out in a panic. He ran out ready to fight, he had two scrolls strapped to his back and his main puppet Karasu slung over his shoulders "What!?" He yelled worried but calmed down when he didn't see anything wrong. "What is it?" He asked.

"Gaara repeat what you just said" Shikamaru demanded hurriedly.

"I want to know about _love_ love" Gaara said looking up at his brother. A loud thud resonated through the room from a fallen puppet. Kankuro stood looking shocked, his mouth was agape and his eyes wide.

"uhhh… Temari…. We need Temari" the puppeteer stuttered.

"She is talking with Katsura we can't disturb her now" Shikamaru informed him

"Ok…well…." Kankuro rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. He never thought the day would come when Sabuku no Gaara needed 'The Talk'. "Well first you…. no. You could take a…. no…. Well, when a guy and a girl, or in Shika's case a guy and a guy-"

"Or in Kanky's case a guy and any inanimate object because it can't run away" Shikamaru cut him off smirking. Just then the fallen puppet launched an attack at the lazy genius which was easily avoided with a simple ducking movement. "See he controls this one, she's his favorite"

"Ok seriously, help me out here. I don't know what to say" Kankuro pleaded with the other boy.

Shikamaru sighed and placed his hands in his usual thinking sign. This was beginning to be way to troublesome for him to be involved in. _'Troublesome why do I have to help, I'm not even related to the guy?' _

"Well when you love someone" Shikamaru tried but was cut off by the Kazekage.

"I don't understand…." Gaara said.

"Oh…. You want to know about love not…. never mind" Kankuro sighed in relief and Shikamaru went back to laying on the couch.

"Well I can't really explain about love since I have never been in love." Kankuro honestly said which probably wasn't the answer Gaara was looking for. "Why? Do you think you are in love?"

"No…" Gaara answered with out hesitation. He had never known love and he knew he probably would never know it. "Everyone in the village hates me and thinks I'm a monster"

"Obviously you have never heard what the girls say" Kankuro said offhandedly.

"Why should I, They all think I'm a monster" Gaara said his voice was in dismay at the thought.

"Are you kidding they all love you" Kankuro shouted which surprised the red head and woke the sleeping nin. "Why do you think I go on so many dates, they all think they can use me to get close to you… It's not like I'm complaining"

Gaara looked confused, this was the first time he had ever heard of something like that. either Kankuro was making it up to make him feel better or he was telling the truth which still proved one thing. "They are still afraid to talk to me, so they do think I'm a monster"

Kankuro got a bright idea and rushed out of the room, He returned with three long jackets and three hats. He tossed a one of each to Shikamaru and Gaara . "Puts these on, we're going somewhere" Kankuro demanded. He saw the confused looks that both guys were giving him. "We need to be in disguise"

"Why don't we use a henge?" Shikamaru asked to show how dumb the jounin was.

"What!? … Because…" Kankuro said as if the suggestion was the stupidest thing he had ever heard. He then put on the coat and took off his own hood and put on the hat only it had those cat ears as well. Reluctantly the other to put on their cloths as well and followed as Kankuro walked out of the house.

XXXXX

"So… You and Gaara went to lunch?" Temari asked innocently as she sat on the edge of the bed looking at Katsura who was sitting leaning on the headboard.

"Yeah, he didn't want to eat what you made him?" Katsura coughed once.

"What?! It's not like I poisoned it or anything. Anyway… why did you go with him?" Temari asked trying to pry into what was going on.

"He invited me" Katsura simply said

"So it was a date?" Temari smirked when Katsura's face started to turn red and she looked away.

"No, we just had lunch" Katsura coughed and tried to hide the blush on her face.

"Right" Temari said slyly with a small smirk. They both looked at the door when they heard shouting from downstairs but decided to ignore it. "What happened then?" Temari asked referring to earlier today.

"Nothing, we just had lunch and then came back" Katsura answered but decided not to tell the part with the rabid secretary. A huge crash was heard from down stairs and Temari shook her head.

"I don't even want to know what is going on" She said more to her self then anyone she turned back to Katsura and decided to just be blunt. "Do you like my brother?"

Katsura coughed in surprise, a question like that was unexpected. "W-what? No! I mean I used to back when I first met him but not anymore. He's one of my friends" She reassured the older girl.

"Right… So you don't have any feelings for him at all?"

"Not that kind" Katsura answered and coughed. "At least I don't think I do" She whispered the second part but Temari heard none the less. The elder girl smirked and got up to leave the room, she turned her head as she reached the door.

"Just be careful, I will have to hurt you if you hurt him" She walked out the door leaving Katsura to think about what she was talking about. She sighed and took her book from her weapons pouch and started to read but her thoughts kept distracting her. _'I don't feel that way about him…. Do I?'_

XXXXX

"Kankuro where are we going?" Gaara asked as the three inconspicuously dressed ninjas walked into a building that had all darkened windows.

"Don't worry, We only going here to show not every one hates you" Kankuro smiled back at his younger brother. Shikamaru shook his head still trying to figure out how he got roped into this in the first place. The three of them walked into a room that was filled with girls they all wore black shirts, some wore a headband of suna in various places and others had not such markings. The three guys stood in the back and watched to see what was unfolding in front of them. Kankuro stood farthest from the others, Shikamaru stood next to him and Gaara stood closest to the door.

The three of them watched although Gaara and Shikamaru were really confused as to why they were here. Gaara eyed the girls that walked around he saw a glimpse of what was written on all their shirts. There was red print that read 'I love Gaara' except instead of it saying love it was the Kanji of ai that matched the one on Gaara's forehead. His eyes actually got huge as he looked back at Kankuro who smiled. Just then some one stood at a podium in front of the crowd. Gaara was in awe that it was his secretary, Minagi, that stood in front of the others.

"Before we begin our meeting of the Gaara Fan club I want to tell everybody to sign the thank you card for Kankuro, he made us some more Chibi Gaara dolls that will be available for purchase after this meeting"

Shikamaru looked over at the puppet ninja. "You actually make a profit from hormonally crazed fangirls and their obsession for your brother"

"Yeah, what's your point?" Kankuro remarked, the leaf ninja shook his head.

"Kankuro, why are we here?" Gaara asked slightly annoyed.

"To show you people do love you…. well at least the girls do" The older brother said to him.

"I don't understand…. why do these girls say they love me, I have never really talked to most of them"

"Girls are troublesome creatures, don't try to figure them out" Shikamaru spoke up.

Crossed his arms and closed his dark rimmed eyes, he signed in frustration. This was getting them no where. "I still don't see how I will learn about love from this"

"You won't I just thought you should know not everyone thinks of you as a monster" Kankuro replied "You have to learn about love on your own, I'm sure Kat could help you though" He gave a smirk toward his younger brother.

"What do you mean?" Gaara asked confused

"Never mind" Kankuro shook his head

"Yosh!" The secretary's voice called "We called this meeting to talk about an important issue, it seems that an outsider has come in to steal our Gaara-sama away from us. We need a strategy to stop her"

"Are they talking about Kat?" Kankuro asked surprised

"Yeah I think they are" Shikamaru raising an eyebrow.

"This could turn ugly why don't we leave now" Kankuro started walking passed the two when he saw some one he knew and started laughing. Shiro had just walked into the club and looked over to the wall the three were standing at he smiled and waved.

"Shikamaru-kun I didn't know you were going to be here. So this is why you didn't like me." He joked

"No-" Shikamaru started but was cut off when Shiro grabbed his arm and pulled him more into the group of "girls". Shikamaru was protesting to try and regain his arm back. _'How was I recognized? I don't even live here… Gaara's tattoo is showing and Kankuro still has make up on!" _Shikamaru thought

"Gaara I think we should go now" Kankuro Pushed his younger brother out of the club leaving the lazy ninja to fend for himself.

"I still don't understand anything"

XXXXX

The sun was setting now and Temari sighed. Her two brother returned hours ago and Katsura had not come down from the guest room she had been staying in. The only thing missing was one unmotivated smart ass. She got up and walked over to the front door again to see if he had returned yet. _'I don't even care if he does come back, why am I worrying over it'_ She shook her head and sighed, after looking this one last time she would give up and go to bed. As she opened the door she saw a sight that confused her. Shikamaru was walking back to the house but he was followed by a group of girls. They all wore black tee shirts that read 'I love Gaara' and they also had dear antlers headbands that they wore on top of their heads.

"Troublesome women" He walked scowling and looking at the ground, his hands were placed in his pockets.

"Oh, Shika is so funny" One of the girls said

"And he is so smart" Another spoke up, the group started giggling in response.

Shikamaru reached the door and walking inside trying to ignore the girls that followed him. They all stood out side waiting to see if he would come back out, a few of the ninja girl knew where they ended up at and tried to get some of the other to leave.

"What are you doing?" Temari snarled at the group "get out of here!" the group scattered and in a few seconds not one person was outside the door. Temari slammed the door and heard a voice call from inside.

"Told you" Temari whipped around to see Shikamru's retreating back as he walked up the stairs to his own guest room.

XXXXX

**GOMEN GOMEN GOMEN for the late post. I have been so swamped with school work and my computer decided to restart 3 times before I saved so it took so long but hey this is a really long chapter by my standards! **

**Kagemane- Shikamaru's shadow possession technique**

**Henge- transformation technique**

**Also for those who don't know, Shika means deer so that is why the girls are wearing deer antlers. And someone has finally tried to guess what movie quote inspired the title so I am going to give you the hint I was suppose to say in ch.3 (sorry I kept forgetting). HINT: It is from a Jack Nickelson movie**

**Next Time: What will Katsura do about her insecurities? What will happen when she sees Gaara again?**

**Please review, Arigato **


	11. Inner Demons

Thank you Kankuro's Puppet, fanny-kun, Fallen Angel357, and Jokermask for the reviews and congrats to **Silmarion **for answering the question about the title correctly…. "Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moon light?"

Disclaimer: If I own Naruto why would I write a FAN fiction?

"Talking"

'_**Shukaku talking'**_

'_thinking'_

**The Devil in the Pale Moonlight**

Chapter 11: Inner Demons

A lone figure sat on the roof of a certain house in the desert. The warm night wind blew across stirring a few insignificant specks of sand on the ground below. The figure didn't move from their spot even when the temperature started to drop, they seemed to be deep in thought. The only thing that disturbed the peaceful night was a few coughs coming from that same figure.

Katsura sat at the edge of the roof thinking over what had happened today. All she did was have lunch with a friend, so why was she so confused now. _'Why did Temari start questioning me? Why would she think that I like Gaara? Well he is cute and he's nice to me…. now. He is the Kazekage after all so he is a really good ninja but…. I don't know' _ Katsura coughed once and looked up at the moon once again, it was still a half moon and it lit up the dark sky beautifully. The stars shone brilliantly with out anything to block the view, not even the stars in Konoha were this clear. _'Even if I did like him there is no way it would work out, He lives in Suna I live in Konoha, He is the Kazekage I am only a Chuunin, plus…' _Katsura looked down at the palms of her hands and slowly closed them. _'That would always keep us apart, happiness is not meant for some one like me' _ She felt her eyes blur up and quickly blinked a few times, she wiped her eyes just in case and sighed in content as her gaze fell on the moon.

XXXXX

Gaara walked to the roof, it was his private place to think and right now he really needed to. Both Kankuro and Shikamaru did nothing to help him today in fact they may have worsened his previous knowledge of love. He walked out side and saw once again that Katsura was out there. He stood and looked at the girl who seemed to take no notice that he was standing out there. Inside his mind he could feel the demon waking into existence once more.

'_**Now is the time to draw blood' **_The demon said darkly, Gaara ran his fingers into his hair messing it up even more

'_Leave me alone' _Gaara commanded but he could not push the demon away this time.

'_**WHY ARE YOU PROTECTING OUR PREY!?' **_The demon bellowed in pure anger

'_I will not let you hurt anyone else no matter who they are' _Gaara rebutted

'_**Come on kid, who are you trying to fool? You only live to kill people you cannot change that.' **_

'_I'm not fooling any one, I have already changed' _

'_**No you haven't, you think just because you are the Kazekage that you are not a blood thirty monster anymore. Those people still think of you that way'**_

"_Silence" _Gaara mentally yelled at the beast

'_**Are you afraid to handle the truth? If she knew about you she would think you were a monster too'**_

"_No" _His gaze fell on the girl in front of him _"She wouldn't"_

'_**She is just like everyone else. Face it kid your alone in this world. Why bother protecting those who could care less about you?'**_

He didn't respond to the over grown pest, Shukaku had a point. He would always be alone, he can only love himself, he can only live for himself. _"No, thats not true. Uzumaki Naruto taught me to live for others and thats what I will do" _With that Gaara successfully pushed the raccoon away from the surface of his mind.

Gaara walked over and sat down next to the girl who was all in black and looked at the stars as well. One thing plagued his mind though, Shukaku was usually pushed out easily but this time he managed to stay. _'For over two years I have controlled that rodent but now it is proving difficult. Why is he acting up when Katsura is around?' _

A soft cough broke his thoughts and he turned to see Katsura glance at him. She turned away and hid her face with her hair. She hadn't realized she was staring at the Kazekage so openly and was embarrassed to be caught by him. A silence fell over the two but it was only awkward for Katsura, as mentioned before she hated silence and she was beginning to see Gaara liked it. She signed loudly and started humming that same song she sung last time. The melody was hypnotic it started out fast but slowed down, Gaara found himself wishing he could hear Katsura sing it again but he didn't want to say anything. He let her soft humming fill the silence air of the night. The song came to an end and silence returned to the duo sitting on the roof, Katsura smiled softly as she looked at the moon once more.

"You know my mom used to sing that song to me" She said more to herself then anyone.

"You've said that already" Gaara stated bluntly, needless to say he had some people skills to work on.

"Gomen… " Katsura trailed off not knowing what she wanted to say, for one of the few times in her life she was at a loss for words.

"No need" Gaara simply stated ignoring the apologetic look from the other "You don't need to apologize" He crossed his arms over his chest and looked up at the sky as if thinking.

Katsura looked down at the ground unsure of what to do, she saw a few people walking home for the night. A young boy walked by slightly ahead of an older woman who appeared to be his mother. The child looked up at the sight of the two people on the roof and waved happily. Katsura chuckled and waved back Gaara looked at the girl next to him then at who she was waving to.

The mother smiled warmly at her son then she looked onto the roof as well. The boy noticed he got the attention of the other person and started to waved vigorously for some type of recognition. Katsura chuckled when she saw that Gaara didn't know what he should to, finally he settled on raising one of his hands slightly from their position on his chest. The boy smiled but his hand was grabbed by his mother. She had a furious yet scared expression written plainly on her face. She practically dragged her son away and around the corner.

Katsura was confused by the action and looked at Gaara who was staring at the sky again as if nothing happened. Katsura remembered what she heard the villagers saying earlier today, and her expression saddened.

"You can hear them, can't you?" Katsura asked. Gaara didn't answer he continued to look towards the sky, his face didn't betray any hint of emotion. "I don't understand how you can stand it"

"I'm used to it"

"What do you mean? Some one shouldn't really be used to some thing like that" Katsura said utterly confused. "How can you be used to that?"

"I have my reasons" Gaara said his voice rising in anger, this was not something he wished to discuss especially with some talkative Kunochi.

"Gomen, I shouldn't have asked" Katsura said look down at her dangling feet. "It's just that… those names sounded like what they called Naruto" She nearly whispered the second part unaware that Gaara could hear her perfectly.

'_**Go ahead, tell her about me. She'll understand, right?' **_The demon went into a laughing fit as he faded once more into nothingness. Gaara decided to see if the demon was right.

"Naruto and I are a lot more alike then you think" Gaara stated trying to ease into the topic

"What do you mean?" Katsura asked surprised that he not only heard her but was talking as well.

"Naruto and I had the same childhood but he found some one who loved him…" Katsura was beginning to understand.

"So the villages both hated you but why?" Katsura asked unaware of what Gaara was getting at.

"We both are monsters" The wheels clicked into place inside Katsura's head, she knew about the demon sealed inside Naruto, she had heard her parents talk about it once but they didn't think of him any differently then any other villagers. After all her mother was good friends with Kakashi, the one who was to look after him at the request of his sensei and and fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato.

"So you have a…"

"Hai"

"And that's why the villagers…"

"Hai" Gaara never looked at her, he didn't want to know what she was thinking he just needed to make sure that the demon was wrong. A silence fell over the two and Gaara was beginning to loose hope

"Gomen" She spoke at length. Gaara was slightly surprised by her response "you and Naruto shouldn't have been treated that way"

"It makes no difference now" Gaara replied indifferently

"Yes it does" Katsura sighed, "Why are the villagers still scared around you. I mean your the Kazekage now?"

"When I was a child, I would kill people so I would know I was alive" Gaara said painfully remembering what he had gone through in his entire life.

Katsura was speechless, she didn't know a child could make the decision to end some ones life, that wasn't a decision easily made by even a Jounin. Yet how Gaara spoke she knew he must have killed a lot of people. She coughed lightly unsure of what to say, this new information was a bit disturbing to say the least but she shook her head. "People respect you now, right?"

"No, they are still afraid of me" Gaara said without caring, he truly was disappointed that nothing had changed in his life but he accepted his fate.

"Oh… gomen" Katsura paused thinking f what she could say. " I would like to say I know how you felt but I don't" She looked at the boy next to her but he didn't look anywhere else but the moon that shone overhead. "I never had to go through any thing that you had to nor could I imagine. You truly are strong to have endured that and become Kazekage at such a young age."

Gaara was speechless, he just told her that he is a killer and has a monster sealed inside him and she praised him. A slight smirk crossed his own lips, it was at times like this when the demon inside him was no where to be found. But the absence of said demon made one question stand out in Gaara's mind. _'Why does he want me to kill her so badly? I need to resolve this matter before anything happens' _

"What about you?" Gaara asked unsure of how to bring up the subject. Her childhood would probably give him hints as to why Shukaku is acting up again. "You childhood I mean"

"… its been a while since I thought of that" Katsura smiled at her companion of the night. Gaara turned his head slightly so he can see her and also she could see that he really wanted to know. Katsura sighed and crossed her arms over her chest while looking up at the sky longingly. "I told you about my parents so I guess I could tell you a little but more..."

"I never had any friends, most of the kids in the academy wouldn't come near me because of my sickness. They all thought it was contagious." She chuckled a little at the memory of the kids avoiding her and covering their mouths when they would pass her. "I guess I'll start wit the day I graduated the academy"

XXXXX

**Ok so I totally made a huge mistake a few chapters ago, Gomen!! In Chapter 6 I put that Katsura's mom died but I changed it but never retyped it before I submitted it so thats what it read, Katsura's mom is still alive just to clarify, I changed that sentence in CH. 6, Sorry I just caught that and i didn't want to confuse you later on. If you have any question just hit the blue button that says "submit reviews" and send one!**

**Next time: What happens in Katsura's past????**

**Please Review, Arigato**


	12. Introducing Team Reject

Thank you Kankuro's Puppet, Jokermask, Fanny-kun, and Fallen Angel3579 for the reviews

Disclaimer: I think you know by now

"Talking"

'_**Shukaku talking'**_

'_thinking'_

**The Devil in the Pale Moonlight**

Chapter 12: Introducing Team Reject

"Ok, its time for the announcement of the teams" Iruka sensei stood in front of the class with a few papers that where given to him by the Third Hokage himself. Katsura's heart nearly stopped, this was what she was dreading the most about becoming a ninja. She would have to be put in a three man cell. She knew no one in the class would want to be with her because of her sickness.

"Then next team will be" Irukas voice rang through the class room snapping Katsura out of her thoughts. "Gekkou Katsura, Haruki Gemma and Masaru Jubei."

"WHAT!?!?" The larger one in all black, who was known as Jubei shouted at the teacher making a strain of his short black hair that was slicked back slightly fall forward. His hair stye reminded Katsura of a porcupine and she waited to see it it would stick up the more he yelled. "Why do I have to be paired up with the sick girl? She is only going to hold me back!"

"Jubei…" The other one in black pants and a white trench coat said to his team mate. He had brown long hair that wad pulled up in a pony tail with a few strains falling around his face. "Shut up and sit down" he ordered making the other glare at him before begrudging take his seat again. Katsura smiled slightly, maybe she could still have a friend.

After all the announcements of the rest of the teams where made they were informed they would meet their Jounin sensei's after lunch. Katsura walked outside and sat in front of a tree as per usual, from her spot she could see the younger classes running under the watchful eye of Iruka sensei. She sighed as she looked around to see the rest of the teams talking, starting to get to know each other. Even the stoic Neji that was in her class was having lunch with his new teammates, the girl who liked weapons as much as she did and the one every one referred to as dead last. She couldn't recall their names but she knew Neji, every one in her class did he was the best after all. She sat looking at her bento box that was in her lap and decided she really didn't want to eat now, she leaned up against the tree and fixed her hitai ate on her head. She closed her eyes and just enjoyed the breeze that surrounded her on the perfectly warm day. She heard foot steps and opened her eyes to see her new team mates standing in front of her. Gemma sat down, Jubei glared at the other boy before sitting as well not looking at Katsura.

"We are now a team" Gemma stated the obvious. "We have to work together" Jubei snorted a laugh to mock the other one. "Our lives could depend on it" That shut the other boy up quick.

"Fine" Jubei turned to look at Katsura "But that doesn't mean I have to like it"

"And that doesn't mean I have to like you" Gemma cut off whatever Katsura was thinking, she looked and saw that his face had not changed the entire time

"Well I don't like you either" Jubei glared at the the other boy. Katsura cleared her throat to get their attention. Jubei scowled at looked at her while Gemma looked with no change in expression.

"If we are on a team we should try and get along." She suggested, Gemma nodded his head in under standing where as Jubei crossed his arms and stuck his nose in the air like he was a child once more. At the end of lunch they retreated back to the class room and waited to meet their sensei.

XXXXX

The newly assembled team of Katsura, Gemma and Jubei sat on a bench just below the Hokage mountain waiting for their new sensei to arrive. In a puff of smoke some one appeared before their eyes. It was a tall slender man who wore a typical ninja outfit of black shirt and pants with a green vest. He had messy semi long hair the looked as if he never look care of it, it was purple with silver locks sprinkled through it. He smiled brightly, Katsura could feel her cheeks flush. For some one who looked like he just woke up he was awfully cute. She shook her head and listened to what he had to say.

"Hello, I'm your new sensei, why don't we go around and introduce our selves, I'll go first" The teacher said while he stood in front of his new students. "I am Takeshi Hiro but you can call me Hiro-sensei. I enjoy training, drawing, dating and miso soup. I don't like people who refuse to listen and My dream is to fall in love" He smiled at the group.

"_I like this guy already" _Jubei thought after his speech

"_He seems liked a strong ninja, we should be able to learn a lot from him." _Gemma was pleased with the sensei

"_Did he just list dating as a hobby?" _Katsura looked confused.

He pointed at Jubei who was to go next. "I'm Masaru Jubei. I like fighting, I don't like people who hold me back" He looked over at Katsura who hung her head in shame. "My dream in to become the greatest ninja Konoha has ever seen."

Gemma was to go next "I'm Haruki Gemma. I like lots of things I don't like assholes " He shot a glance at Jubei. "or hurting people. My dream is to become a sensei." Hiro nodded when he finished his into and looked at Katsura.

"I'm Gekkou Katsura. I like training with my dad and practicing new sword techniques. I don't like falling ill and My dream is to become a part of ANBU black ops." She smiled at her sensei who smiled back.

"Yosh, we will meet here tomorrow morning for a very important test, don't eat breakfast and I will bring lunch for every one." Hiro informed the group making Jubei yell out once more complaining of the test. "Its to make sure you are ready is all, don't worry if you fail you will only be sent back to the academy. well, Ja ne." He disappeared in a puff of smoke leaving the three standing in awe.

"I can't go back to the academy!!!" Jubei yelled at the nothing in front of them. "You better not mess up Katsup."

"Ketchup?" Gemma asked weirdly "Why do you call her Ketchup?"

"No it's Katsup, because she has to catch up with us and her name is Kat." He replied smugly

"Don't call me that" She yelled at her team mate, no one was allowed to call her Kat, but of course Jubei thought she was talking about the nickname he thought of.

"Jubei, your a baka" Gemma stated. Jubei walked off leaving Gemma and Katsura sitting on the bench. Katsura hung her head again, she knew she was stronger then him but for some reason he made her fell bad about herself, she was touchy about her illness anyway and him pointing it out at every opportunity wasn't helping. "Don't listen to him, after all we will pass the test then you can show him how strong you really are."

XXXXX

Sure enough the team passed with almost flying colors. Katsura and Gemma had excellent teamwork with each other but Jubei refused to listen until the last hour of the test. He reluctantly joined them and they passed. Needless to say Hiro was proud of the team he got. Although people started calling them Team Reject, All they had was moron, a pacifist, a sick person and a lecher teacher.

After almost a year of being a team they started to get along, Jubei was still as arrogant as ever and still used that lame nickname he thought. Katsura became really close to Gemma, she thought of him as her best friend.

Right now Katsura and Gemma and Hiro-sensei waited at the gates of Konoha for Jubei t arrive. They finally had a mission where they would leave the village and Katsura was anxious to get started, she had never been out of the village. They had to deliver some goods to a near by village here in the fire country it wasn't anything too difficult but they all were excited. Jubei ran up to join the rest of the group, he panted for air once he stopped.

"If you wear yourself out now then you won't be able to finish the mission" Gemma stated.

"Shut up, I'm fine lets go." He walked past the group and outside the gates, the village was a little over a days travel but they managed to make it there with no incidents. After the good where delivered to the leader of the village they started their travel home, thats where they met up with trouble. They set up camp in a clearing in the forest, it was a bit obvious but after all they were in no immediate danger since they never left the fire country. Hiro had just got back to the group with some fish he caught from the river nearby. He put them on the fire that Gemma started for them while Katsura set up the tent and Jubei stood watch just in case.

"Jubei since your just standing there go fill up the canteens at the river" Hiro ordered

"But you were just there why didn't you do it?" He complained in protest

"Because I didn't now go, Katsura go with him to make sure he doesn't fall in"

Katsura did as her sensei said. The two walked through the forest following the sound of the river that wasn't too far from their current location. Neither spoke a word to each other, they still didn't get along and by the looks of it they never would. Once they reached the body of water they both started to fill up the canteens so they would have enough water to make it back to Konoha. A rustling from the bush caught Jubei's attention and he threw a kunai in that direction scaring a small rabbit out from hiding.

"Wow, aren't you tough you can beat a rabbit" Katsura said sarcastically.

"Better safe then sorry, Katsup" He relied angrily.

They both turned back to the river and started filling up the canteens once more. Katsura felt her self get pulled back be her shirt and she fell backward on the ground. Laying next to her was Jubei looking up with a horrified expression. She looked up as well and saw two guys standing in front of her. They both wore loose black pants with bandages wrapped around their waist reaching half was up their chests as well as their arms, They has spiky hair that fell over half their faces they looked so similar Katsura swore one was a cone.

"Look Ichirou some lost gennin from Konoha" The one on the right said, it was then that she noticed the scar that ran on the left side of his face from his temple to strait down.

"Your right Nomburu, they scared our dinner away what should be do now?" The left one responded

"I say kill them" The one on the right said darkly making Katsura and Jubei panic, they had never been in a real fight before.

The one on the left, Ichirou clenched his fist and picked up Jubei. He looked over the scared young boy and smirked before punching him and sending the gennin flying into a rock, hit head hit with a sickly thud and Katsura panicked, she looked up to see the other one hands started to descend to hit her but she rolled out of the way before his fists hit the ground. She was close to the waters edge but she was lucky enough not to fall in. She stood up at the same time Jubei did, he was clenching his head in pain mustered up enough courage to glare at the two. Katsura drew her sword from its sheath on her back. She took her usual stance, crouched slightly with her hand holding the hilt at her waist in front of her. Jubei took a Taijutsu stance and began to fight, he raced at the guy who hit him. Katsura had to admit that Jubei was not just all talk, he was keeping up well in hand to hand combat with the guy who was trying to kill him but it was obvious of the difference in abilities.

Katsura looked at the other guy and charged hoping that Hiro and Gemma would come to their aid soon. She swung her sword across trying to hit his ribs but it was easily avoided, she tried to swing over head up was caught off guard with a blow to the stomach. She cursed her self her leaving an opening as wide as she did. She regrouped her self and waited for the guy to charge at her.

"Come on kid do you really think you can beat us, the Shou brothers?" He asked her

"Never heard of you" She replied smugly affectively pissing off the guy she was battling. He charged for her giving her the opportunity she needed. As soon as he got close Katsura crouched down and slipped under his legs, she then hit him in the back with her hilt of the blade, knocking him over. She whipped around but to her dismay he made quickly stood up she took a step back unsure of what to do. She swung in a furry of silver trying to get a scratch on him but he was just to fast as soon as an opening was present he swung and cough her cheek with a hit. She jumped back and looked at the evil smirk coming from the other guy, there was no way they could win. They were very strong that hit alone made blood trickle down the side of her mouth. She heard a loud scream coming from the other fight a looked over to see the other guy was holding Jubei against a rock with one arm behind his back and the other hung lump.

"Maybe I should just snap your neck now" They guy said loud enough for all to hear.

"JUBEI!!!" Katsura screamed and raced at the other guy her blade held back poised to strike. Before he realized that Katsura was on her way it was too late. Her Katana plunged into the enemies stomach making him drool blood letting it flow down his chin and over his chest staining the bandages. He dropped the young boy and Katsura pulled her weapon out making him fall backwards on the grass. Jubei got to his knees and grabbed his right shoulder in agony.

"Nii-san" The left over enemy said in disbelief. There was no way his brother had been killed by some gennin from the leaf village. He glared at the two and charged ready to make a hit so hard it would shatter her skull, he cocked his fist back as he approached the girl. Katsura looked up at the last second and help up her hand hopping to block the blow or at least soften it enough so she wouldn't get hilled. A few Kunai flew out if the trees making the attacker pull back or else get hit. Hiro and Gemma appeared in front of Katsura who kneeled and grabbed on to a swaying Jubei.

"Hiro… so it's you" The enemy smirked "What an interesting turn of events"

"You will die here Nomburu" Hiro stated making all gennin confused at their knowledge of each other.

He laughed darkly and took a few steps back so he was just at the water edge "I will see you again, Hiro" He smiled evilly "I will also avenge my brother" He disappeared in a large wave that engulfed him leaving nothing once the water subsided. Hiro knew he could go after him but Jubei needed medical attention first. He turned to his team and saw that one of the brothers was already dead, he was once again proud of his team.

"Katsura" Jubei spoke weakly to his team mate, he leaned away to look at her. "Why did you save me? you could have been killed just then?"

"We are a team Jubei" She smiled at her team mate, his face looked longingly before she noticed his eyes had gathered some water but he refused to cry. The wind blew across them making Katsura's hair blow across her face, Jubei smiled as best as he could then grabbed onto her with his good arm and hugged her tightly thanking her the whole time.

Once they got back to camp Hiro sought to Jubei, Katsura managed fairly well in the fight but the others shoulder was dislocated and needed to be popped back into place. Once he was taken care of Gemma placed an ice pack on his shoulder but he complained it was too rough and hurt him. Katsura took over the job of tending to his wounds. The group sat by the fire almost ready to get some rest to finish traveling.

"Hiro-sensei" Gemma said looking at his teacher "Who was that back then?"

He sighed and notice the other two members for the team were paying attention now. "Those two are known as the Shou brothers, they are hired mercenaries. A few years ago a bounty was placed on my head and they were hired to complete it. I ended up defeating them and the bounty was called off, but they are they most ruthless mercenaries out there, I am glad you were able to defeat one."

"Why was a bounty put in your head?" Katsura asked

"For stealing some guy's girlfriend. I broke up with her after that she was too much trouble." He smiled as the rest of the team sweat dropped.

XXXXX

A few months passed since that mission and the entire team starting to get along, even though Jubei still called Katsura names it was more in a friendly manor. They were now getting ready for the first stage in the chuunin exams, three of them met in front of where it was to be held, they needed to be at the third floor by three o'clock. Katsura strapped on her fathers sword proud that her dad is letting her use it for this special opportunity. She approached her team mates and they walked into the building and up to the stairs. But they saw another team standing there they two guys seemed to be arguing over something. Katsura recognized Sasuke from yesterday when she met Gaara and his siblings, she also recognized Naruto from what Kakashi had told her but she had no idea of the girls name. She remembered the promise she gave Kakashi about meeting people.

"I'll meet up with you two in a sec" The two male team mates shrugged and walked up the stairs aiming for the third floor. Katsura walked up to the team but the only one to notice her was the pink haired girl. "Hi, your Kakashi-sempai's team right?"

"Hai… who are you?" The pink haired girl said while the guys seemed to have finally noticed the other person.

"I'm Gekkou Katsura" She smiled at the girl who smiled back.

"I'm Haruno Sakura pleased to meet you"

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto" The blonde broke through the introductions "and I'm going to be Hokage one day so remember my name!!!"

She laughed at the other boys antics and smiled at him. "I'll keep that in mind Naruto"

"Dobe" the stoic raven haired boy spoke.

"What did you say Sasuke-teme?!?"

"I said dobe" They glared at each other, you could almost feel the intense aura they were producing.

"It was nice meeting you all, hopefully we will meet again during the exams." Katsura turned to meet up with her team, she smiled as hoping they would also become her friends as well.

After the ordeal with the you guy who blocked the entrance of the testing center and after she met Shikamaru the test was to begin. A large number of ninjas from all over sat in this one room listening to the instructions that were given from the scary guy who was the prompter. Katsura figured out that you needed to cheat with out being caught. She had a luck spot too it was more in the middle, just a few rows behind Gaara actually, she decided to wait until the test was over before she talked to him. Gemma was in the back in the other side of the room and Jubei was directly behind Naruto. Once they were given the test Katsura looked over it to see if she could answer anything and to her surprise she couldn't answer one question. She sighed and took her weapon off her back an leaned it against the table, she lifted it out of the hilt enough to see the answers of the test on the kids test behind her reflecting off the sword. She started to write as best as she could with out drawing suspicion to herself. Everything was going smoothly until a flying Kunai grazed past Naruto and stuck into Jubei's test, all ninjas looked at him.

"You cheated 5 times you and your team are out" Ibiki said to the student.

"What!?!? I didn't cheat, thats not fair" Jubei stood up in protest but Katsura and Gemma stood up as well and called for him to follow, regrettably he did so. Katsura chuckled as they walked out remembering him saying that the rookies wouldn't make it pas the first round. Jubei glared at her before they left the room.

XXXXX

Katsura stood on the roof of her house looking at the full moon over head, she smiled brightly at what she had just accomplished. She successfully snuck out of her house with out her mom noticing but she had to be very careful her dad had patrol duty tonight and if he caught her out there would be hell to pay. She raced along the roof of the houses, she knew that boy she met a few weeks ago would be out on the roofs late at night and she never got a chance to talk to him again. She ran across until she saw a glimpse of red on the top of a fish statue on a roof. She looked up at the red headed boy and smiled at the sight of the moon glowing eerily on him making his skin cast a fluorescent hue in the night. She used her chakra to run up the side until she reached the top. She stood in front of the boy who glared at the new arrival.

"Hi, Gaara" She smiled brightly at the stoic nin, who said nothing in response. He found her extremely annoying and was just waiting for the perfect opportunity to dispose of her. "Do you mind if I sit with you?"

She looked down at him and smiled brighter, "You really shouldn't be so gloomy all the time. You would have more fun if you smile some time."

His black eyelids narrowed and his eye looked as if they were different, Katsura could hear the sound of moving sand slithering on the ground. She felt something cold snake up her leg and looked down, to see dark sand moving on its own accord. She looked up at Gaara, worry etched onto her face. She was lifted off the ground slightly with the sand still crawling up her leg, the pressure increasing with every millimeter it moved. She screamed out in pain as Gaara smirked ready to kill her with ease. Her eyes snapped open and yellow flashed across. The demon inside Gaara's mind freaked and dropped the sand that held Katsura up. She hit the stone ground and sat up she looked at the the red head who was grabbing his head in pain as if some thing inside him was in agony. He slowly recovered and panted a little while looking at the girl who sat next to him.

"Go you are not even worth killing" He spoke darkly still gripping his head with one hand

"No, I was hoping we could become friends" Katsura protested.

Gaara glared once more at the girl who not only dared to approach him but also wanted to be friends. He lifted his hand ready to cover her in sand once more but stopped with a painful grunt as he ran his hand into his hair pulling tightly at the blood red locks. He continued his glare at her but was interrupted by a third voice that was in the distance.

"How sad, the great Sabuku No Gaara can't even kill a little girl. And here I thought you were strong" A sound ninja stood in front of them, He had a long jacket with sleeves that were too big and his face was wrapped up. Katsura looked at Gaara who stood up to make eye contact with the ninja. She stood as well but something unexpected happened, Gaara spoke to her.

"Go, you are nothing but a rabbit waiting to be hunted so scurry away"

Katsura looked at him and nodded, she could tell he didn't like her at all but there was something about him that she knew she could never stay away. She jumped off the statue and ran down the roof making eye contact briefly with the sound ninja, he gave the leaf ninja the creeps but she ran once more into the night back home. Once she arrived home she flopped on her bed extremely tired, she went to change from her blue pants and red shirt into her pjs when she noticed bruises that had started to form on her leg that the sand clamped onto. She looked dejectedly at her bare leg, he really had tried to kill her but that still didn't stop her from wanting to see him again. She sighed knowing if she tried to continue a relationship like that it would not be good for her, decided to try be his friend only would be a much safer course of action… for the most part. She put he pjs on a laid back her on her bed, sleep instantly taking over.

XXXXX

The news of her father hit her fairly hard, she ended up making herself sick, the sickest she had ever been in her whole life. Once again in her life she was at the hospital all alone, normally one of her parents would be here but it was the day of the third exam and her mother was on duty with ANBU. The murder of her father put the village in a heightened state of alarm. She got dressed out of the hospital robes that she had been forced to wear, and into her normal red and blue clothes. She heard the door start to open and jumped back into bed covering her self up to her neck, she couldn't let the nurses know she was sneaking out to see the chuunin exam fights. One the door was open she looked and saw to familiar faces.

"Come on Katsup I thought you would have been gone by now" Jubei smiled at him team mate.

She smiled sadly at her team hoping to fool them but they already knew of her fathers death, news spread quickly in this town. She coughed a little after.

"If you don't want to go then we will just keep up company here" Gemma said, making Jubei whine about how he wanted to see the fights. Gemma just shot a glare at him.

"No it's fine I want to go" She jumped up revealing she was already dressed, the three of them walked out the nurses couldn't say anything to them since Gemma's mom was the most feared nurse here, she had a very short temper way worse then Gemma. Once they were outside Katsura strained her eyes to see in the bright light. They walked in silence until Jubei spoke to Katsura only.

"If you ever need a shoulder to cry on I'm always here… ok?"

"Arigato gozaimasu" Katsura spoke as Jubei placed his arm around her shoulder letting her lean on him. She coughed away form him but still leaned against her friend. They all approached the stadium where the exams were being held at and searched for seats they were lucky enough to be able to find some even though the fights have already been going on for quite some time. Right now it seemed like there was a break while waiting for the final match to start, Katsura was still leaning against Jubei while they sat. Just being close to her friend was making her feel better but she knew she never really could.

She saw the flurry of leaves and saw that Kakashi and Sasuke had both arrived in the middle of the arena making the crowd cheer. Katsura heard a voice complain about him always being late and she looked over the aisle of stairs and saw that Sakura was sitting with some blonde girl and a brown headed boy who was eating chips. She wanted to say something but choose not to she only leaned more into Jubei and watched as the fight between Gaara and Sasuke start.

Footsteps grew louder next to Katsura and she lifted her self off her friend to look and see who it was. She saw a young boy around her age wearing a hospital robe, he was holding himself up with a crutch, and an older man presumably some one related to him considering their close appearances.

Katsura heard what the others were talking about, how strong the Uchiha kid had gotten. Kakashi finally made it up the stairs for the fight he said his hello's to the group and had a short conversation with the older of the two that walked up previously. The masked ninja saw Katsura turn back around to see the fight and his heart strained. Her father was a friend of his and it troubled him to see the young girl who had grown up around him in such a dire predicament. He walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder causing her to look at him strait in the face, or what was visible.

"Hello Katsura-chan" His eye curved into a arc to try and change her mood, the first death as a shinobi is always that hardest. Kakashi wanted to say that in time the wounds would heal, that the pain lessens as you live but he knew that it wasn't true.

"Hello Kakashi-sempai" She smiled weakly and coughed away from him hoping he would not bring up anything about her father, today was the chuunin exams and thats all she wanted to think about. The conversation was cut short by a screaming blonde demon holder. Kakashi was able to reassure him just as Sasuke pulled out an unexpected move and pierced through the shield Gaara had set up to protect himself. The sounds of him screaming echoed through the corridor and the sand slowly fell from the sand ninja. He was crouched holding his shoulder in pain while blood dripped onto the ground.

"Gaara" Katsura whispered frightened that he may have been severely injured. Sasuke had hit a vital spot a few more inches down and it could have pierced his heart. Suddenly her eyes grew heavy and feathers covered the stadium, she turned to see both Gemma and Jubei starting to fall asleep. She looked over to the other side and saw Sakura place her hands in the tiger seal, she went to imitate that movement but coughed as she brought her hands up. Her eyes shut and the blackness of sleep consumed her.

XXXXX

**Alright I was going to make this one chapter but I got carried away and added a lot more then I was planning so this is part one, part two will be up in a few days. **

**Yosh: Alright/Okay**

**Ja ne: See you**

**Nii-san: Older brother**

**Next Time: What happens after the exams? What happens with Katsura?**

**Please review, Arigatou**


	13. Funeral For a Friend

Thank you Fanny-kun and Jokermask for the reviews

Disclaimer: Insert funny comment here, too lazy.

"Talking"

'_**Shukaku talking'**_

'_thinking'_

**The Devil in the Pale Moonlight**

Chapter 13: Funeral For a Friend

Katsura left the hospital and looked around the street. All around her was destroyed buildings and gravel. The attack from both sound and sand had almost left Konoha in dust and ashes but they managed through it. She walked past people who going to the same place she was headed, as she approached the crowd that was growing with every passing minute she turned away. Instead she walked to the Memorial Stone and looked it over , she looked at the growing list of names that had been added recently, including that of the third. She looked up and saw her fathers name, tracing it lightly with her hand she felt tears start to fall down her face, but she didn't care. Her father had been her world, he taught her to fight, to live with condition. He was her inspiration, a sickened person who rose up against the odds and became a Jounin.

"I promise father that I will avenge your death" She spoke solemnly and the sky began to trickle. She knew she should be at the funeral but she couldn't bring herself to move. A soft voiced broke her thoughts.

"He was a great man"

Katsura turned around to see her sempai standing behind her. She turned back around not wanting to talk at the moment.

"He would never give up, never let anyone or anything beat him." Kakashi stood right next to the young girl who still didn't say anything to him. "He died protecting the village, he wanted to warn us about something, presumably the attack… "

"He..." Katsura started as the rain started to fall harder soaking through her cloths but also covering the tears on her face. "He died for nothing, we were still attacked, many people still died"

Kakashi looked at the stone as well "Even in death he delivered that message, with out him we would have been much worse. He saved many lives"

Katsura continued to look at the stone and she let her tears fall not caring anymore, she knew there was nothing she could do. She coughed feeling the pain swell up in her lungs. Kakashi looked down upon her. "I know it's hard but you have to keep living your life, if you take this grief upon your self it will lead you down a path in which you can not return"

The two stood in silence while Katsura mulled over Kakashi's words. The way in which he spoke she figured he had experienced great pain in his life and he still feels that pain when ever he is alone. _'If Kakashi-sempai lives in great pain then so can I, I will not forget you father but I know you don't want me to live in grief for the rest of my life… I will become something you can be proud of" _

"Are those for Hayate?" Kakashi spoke with out turing around, Katsura turned to see her mom with a bouquet of flowers, she wore the traditional shinobi mourning clothes. She walked up and placed the flowers on the ground, she looked at her daughter but didn't say a word, she knew why Katsura was here.

"Kakashi-sempai your here for Obito, right?" Yugao said while saying a silent prayer for her deceased lover. Katsura never heard this name spoke before but could tell this person is what caused Kakashi so much grief in his life. She allowed the adults to have their conversation before they left for the funeral for the Sandaime Hokage. As they walked away Katsura caught a glimpse of white, she looked over in that direction and saw an old man with long white hair leaning against one of the posts nearby. She quickly followed her mother and sempai as the sky cleared up and the sun started to shine.

Katsura stood with the other gennin, in between Gemma and Jubei, during the ceremony, She heard Naruto's beautiful speech on the life and death of people. She was in awe of how much he understood and how much pain he felt but could still smile and laugh as if he doesn't have a care in the world. Once the funeral was over Naruto and his team raced off, Katsura looked at her own team. Gemma said his goodbyes and had to leave to help his father rebuild some of their house that was destroyed in the attack, Jubei gave Katsura a hug before he had to leave to help around his families store. Katsura walked around the torn up village, she knew she needed to go back to the hospital and they would get worried if she didn't return. She sat on a nearby bench and looked at the ground coughing occasionally.

Shikamaru and his Father strolled down the streets at a leisurely pace, both seemed to be in no hurry what so ever. Shikamaru saw Katsura sitting alone and gazed at her wondering why she looked to depressed. Shikaku saw who his son was looking at and a sly smile crossed him.

"So you finally took an interest in women?" He teased his only son

"No they are troublesome" The younger genius replied unaffected by the comment

"Oh you like someone else then" He chuckled while Shikamaru rolled his eyes at his father, "That girl on the bench what's her name?"

"Gekkou Katsura I believe"

"Oh Hayate's kid then" he said quietly to himself but called out to her as he walked closer. Katsura looked up to see someone calling her name, he looked familiar but she couldn't place it. Thats when she saw Shikamaru walking up behind him and knew the man calling her was his father, they looked almost identical.

"Hey Katsura" Shikamaru said lazily at the younger girl, she smiled in return.

Shikaku sighed before he spoke, he knew he might get in trouble with his wife but he knew both her and Yugao were friends. "Katsura, if you ever want to you can come over for dinner or something, I know how busy your mom is going to be so your more then welcome."

"Arigatou" She coughed but quickly recovered with smile, she had to be strong in front of people.

XXXXX

A few weeks have passed since then and she was able to visit the Nara household on occasion, instantly she got along with his mother and was welcomed back. Right now she sat at the hospital completely bored, she had her fathers sword and wanted to start practicing but if she did in the room the nurses would throw a fit. She huffed and coughed a few times not knowing what to do. One of the nurses that worked at the hospital walked in with a tray of foods for Katsura. She smiled warmly and placed the tray on the bedside table.

"Do you want me to put that sword somewhere, so it's not in the way?" She asked

"No, I want to train with it" Katsura said absentmindedly, she thought of her team as they trained but remembered that their sensei had been injured in the invasion so they probably weren't doing much training either.

The nurse walked over to the window and looked outside, she gasped at the sight she saw and turned back to Katsura. "Fine, you can train but only on one condition"

Katsura's face lit up at getting permission to train while sick. "What? What is it?"

"You have to keep an eye on that kid" The nurse pointed out the window and Katsura hopped off her bed and looked out the window as well, she saw a young boy that was training in the middle of the courtyard. He wore a green jumpsuit and orange leg-warmers, a crutch laid not too far from where he was doing his one armed push ups. Katsura grabbed her sword and threw it over he shoulder strapping it onto he back and raced out the room and before anyone knew it she was outside walking up to the boy.

"Hi" She said before coughing, "My name is Gekkou Katsura would you mind of I trained with you?"

The boy stopped and turned into a sitting position, he smiled and answered "Hello Katsura-san I am Rock Lee, it would be an honor if you would train with me" and thats when Katsura started the most intense training of her life. She was having trouble trying to keep up with the injured boy, she couldn't even imagine what he was like before his injuries. A few hours pass and they both sat on the grass getting to know each other better.

"So you wear those cloths to imitate your sensei?" She said inquiring about his bizarre clothing choice.

"Hai, Gai-sensei is the greatest, he encouraged me to work and achieve my goal" Lee smiled brightly thinking of his dearest hero.

"Honoring through clothes, I never heard of anyone doing that before" she said quietly to herself.

"Katsura" One of the nurses walked out to the duo "you have some visitors"

"Bye Lee, Hopefully we can train soon"

"Hai, you should join me and my team sometime after I recover"

Katsura walked up to her room to see Gemma and Jubei waiting for her to arrive, she smiled at them upon her arrival. Gemma nodded his head in acknowledgment and Jubei smiled back at her, though worry could be seen in his face.

"What are you guys doing here?" She asked

"We can to say by, we are going on a mission and will be gone for a few days" Gemma replied monotone. "We wanted to let you and Hiro-sensei know"

"WHAT!? your going on a mission with out me and sensei?" Katsura asked in disbelief, a team of gennin normally would never have a mission with out their instructor but with times as bad as now it probably couldn't be helped. "I want to go"

"I'm sorry Katsup but your too sick" Jubei said to try and reason with her.

Gemma walked up to her and untied her head band on her forehead, he did the same with his and exchanged the two so he had Katsura's and Katsura had his. "There now a part of you will be with us"

Jubei stood up not wanting to be left out and took of his necklace, it was a beautiful silver spiral pendent. He walked over and clipped the jewelry on her neck leaving his arms around her longer the necessary. "There now you have a piece of me with you, hold onto this until I get back" He smiled at her before letting go. They finished saying good bye and the two guys left to talk with there teacher. As they entered the room Hiro sat up with a large smile on his face, it disappeared at seeing who it was.

"Oh I thought it was that new nurse" He said making the boys roll their eyes, "What? haven't you seen her, you know the new Hokage's assistant. Oh well what are you doing here?"

"We've come to say by" Jubei announced "We are going on a mission"

"We will return in a few days" Gemma finished. He turned to Jubei was looked anxious to get going. "So Jubei when are you going to tell her?"

"WHAT!?!? what are you talking about?" Jubei asked defensively

"Oh so your finally going to tell her" Hiro chimed in

"Tell who what?" He asked a blush growing on his face, staining his face pink.

"Your going to tell Katsura you like her" Gemma smirked when his team mate didn't say a word. "After all you gave her the necklace"

"How did you know that was my mothers necklace? The one I was planning on giving the woman I marry?" Jubei asked surprised.

"We do now" Hiro taunted back at Jubei

He looked down and sighed not knowing that his team had noticed except for Katsura. "I don't know when I tell her, I guess I took so long for me to realize that I love her that I don't know how to tell her"

"Love?" Gemma asked, he didn't know that the other was in love, he only thought it was a crush. "When did you figure it out?"

"That day when she saved me, I was always mean to her but she still put my life over hers. I saw that I was in love with her, perhaps I had been this entire time and thats why I was so mean in the first place. She is such an amazing girl, kind, smart, and one hell of a warrior… any guy would be lucky to have her"

"You should tell her now, that way when you leave it will give some time to think it over" Hiro suggested as a huge smile on his face, he was glad his students found love, he wished he could do the same for himself.

"No, I don't know what to say. Give me some time to think. I want this to be perfect, she's an angel and I would die a happy man knowing she loved me back. I need to think of the right words to say. How about after this mission I will tell her. As soon as I get back"

"Alright but no backing down" Hiro said in a mock scold. The team said their goodbyes and they were off.

XXXXX

A few days passed and life was booming with action, Lee was currently under going a surgery that could cure him of his injuries and Sasuke left the village. Word travels fast in Konoha and most ninja knew by now of the abandonment of that last Uchiha and Shikamaru and team following after him. Katsura and Lee both walked to the gate to say bye, she smiled as she remembered the thought of Naruto promising Sakura to bring back their team mate. She knew Naruto would keep her word. She walked down the hall in the hospital, she had been there for quite some time and was looking to leave soon. She arrived in front of the door to her sensei's room and opened it. She saw him sitting on the bed reading a scroll of some sort, his face showed worry and sorrow. He heard something and looked up, he looked as if he had been crying. Katsura's heart started racing as she walked over to her sensei.

"Katsura I was just about to call for you, sit down" Katsura sat on the edge of the bed and waited unsure of what was going on. "I just received a scroll this morning regarding Gemma and Jubei's mission… something terrible happened"

Katsura looked up at Hiro with wide eyes "What are they injured? Are they okay? What happened?"

"There was an ambush" Hiro's voice was shaky as he spoke these words "Gemma and Jubei died" Hiro hung his head and Katsura's heart stopped altogether. Her breathing became shallow and heavy, tears leaked out of her eyes.

"No! this isn't right tell me its not right!" She jumped off the bed and yelled at her sensei "Please tell me this information is wrong, please, Hiro-sensei please." Her voice quivered and broke, she let the water roll down her face in a endless stream "No, this isn't right"

"Katsura… I know it hard but-"

"But nothing Hiro-sensei, they aren't dead!" She yelled angry with her teacher

"Yes they are" For the first time Hiro looked her in the eye, tears covered his face.

Katsura clenched her fists and looked at the ground unable to look her instructor in the eyes. "I should have been there, I could have helped" _'why does this sickness hold me back?'_

"No you would have died as well, It should have been me going. I was their sensei. They looked to me for protection I should have been there" Neither spoke for a few minutes.

"I know its hard Katsura" Hiro spoke but she refused to look at her sensei while tears still streamed down her face. "This is the life of a Shinobi, if we live with regret then we can never live happily"

Katsura knew what her teacher was saying, it was something similar to what Kakashi told her at the funeral. She knew he was right but she needed to be alone right now, she turned on her heel and walked out the door, Hiro didn't say a word to her. As soon as she closed the door to the room she ran, she ran out of the hospital, that damned place that she had spent too much time in during her life. She ran down the streets weaving in and out of the crowd, she ignored any thing people said to her. She finally made it out of the gates of Konoha and stopped in a clearing amongst the thick forest. She fell to her knees and let the tears come, it was too much for her to handle. First her father died then only a few weeks later her team mates and only friends died. She grabbed a handful of the fabric of her pants and let the pain wash over her, she coughed uncontrollably again she felt blood on her hand but wiped it off in the grass.

"Why? Why does this have to happen?" She pleaded letting the tears hit the ground. She heard foot step approach where she was at and she half expected to see her team there to greet her but she was sadly mistaken. The first thing she saw was red, as her vision cleared and the tears lessened. She recognized who it was that came up to her, it was the Sand Sibling themselves. The brunette knew it was the sand that was involved in the attack, she made contact with the youngest of of the three, the red headed boy. She stood up and looked at them.

"What are you doing here?" She asked slightly panicked when she realized she never grabbed her sword from the hospital.

"We came to deliver an apology to Hokage-sama" Temari started her face showed her curiosity as to why the young girl was crying but she knew not to ask.

"Now we are going to help with the Sasuke retrial team" Kankuro finished for his sister. "You okay?"

"… Hai" Katsura lied she needed to be strong and rule number 25 of the shinobi laws said she must not show emotion. She locked eyes with the red head once more, neither looked away. "Why? Why did you attack us? many people lost people they care about, Why?" She asked Gaara in particular, she heard something about him being the main one in the attack.

"Sometimes…" Temari spoke for her silent brother "A warrior has to do things they don't want-"

"No" Gaara answered still looking at Katsura "The attack was something I wanted, I wished to kill people. But Naruto changed my mind" He spoke before walking passed Katsura with his family following close behind him. Gaara stopped and looked back at her "Gomen asai" With that the three of them disappeared leaving Katsura alone with her thoughts.

XXXXX

Katsura stood in front of her mirror at her house, she wore the traditional funeral clothes for a ninja. She had just come from the funeral of Jubei and Gemma and she couldn't help but feel guilty when she saw Gemma's parents and Jubei's father among the people at the service. She had Gemma's black headband and Jubei's necklace on her night stand behind her, she turned to her closet and started to pull out items of clothing letting them fall on the floor not caring, she grabbed a black fishnet shirt and shorts and slipped them on. She also grabbed clothes she never wore before a black tank-top and skirt, she put on black shoes lastly. She wore all black, the color of mourning.

She looked at the items on the night stand. She tied on Gemma's headband so he will always be with her, she took Jubei's necklace and wrapped it around her fathers sword. She placed those items on her back so they will always with her as well.

Katsura jumped out the window and raced along the roof tops until she reached her destination, the memorial stone. We walked up to the slab of granite and looked over the two newest names that have been added. She looked over them and then looked up at her fathers name, those three named were too close together. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes to offer a silent prayer in honor of her family and friends. "Gemma, Jubei. I may not know who did this or why but I will find them and I will kill them."

A few moments passed before Katsura turned away and walked back into the town. She looked up at the sky and smiled. For the first time since she found out about her fathers death she was able to smile knowing they would always be with her. She raced along knowing she would never cry again, she had to be strong and she knew she would always keep her word, just like Uzumaki Naruto and his promise to Sakura. She ended up at a training ground not too far away, thats where she saw some one familiar. A boy in a green jumpsuit training harder then anyone she had ever seen.

"Lee!" She yelled and ran up to him. A girl with her hair in two buns stood there confused when Katsura ran up. "Would you mind if I trained with you?"

The boy looked confused at first but then recognized who it was and waved at her "Katsura you are more then welcome to"

The girl with two buns looked confused until Katsura introduced her self. "Hello, I'm Katsura"

"I'm Ten Ten" The girl in pink said, it took a second but Katsura realized she had met her before. They were in the same class at the academy, she was on Neji's team. Thats when Katsura remembered that Lee was the one everyone called names and said he could never be a ninja. She smiled at seeing him train so diligently and turned to the weapons mistress.

"I guess we should spar?" Katsura said drawing her sword, Ten Ten's eyes lit up upon seeing the weapon and she pulled up her scrolls.

XXXXX

**Ha I bet you thought you were going to find out about Katsura's illness. Ha ha, no but seriously stay tuned. **

**Next Time: What is Katsura's illness? Why does Shukaku want to kill Katsura so badly? **

**Please Review, Arigatou**


	14. Dark Side of the Moon

Thank you Fallen Angel3579, Fanny-kun, Jokermask for the reviews

Disclaimer: Don't own, Don't sue

"Talking"

'_**Shukaku talking'**_

'_thinking'_

**The Devil in the Pale Moonlight**

Chapter 14: Dark Side of the Moon

Gaara sat in silence at the Kazekage office, he was suppose to be doing work but his thoughts drifted to what he heard the previous night about Katsura's past. He recalled the incident on the roof, those years ago. Something stuck him as odd about it though, it was the demon that told him not to kill her that night. It wasn't his choice as the raccoon said when she first came back, truth be told if the demon didn't interfere that night two years ago the girl would be dead already. This worried Gaara slightly, what could have stopped the blood thirsty killer to stop dead in his tracks. This was the time when the creature needed to be awaked but of course he wouldn't talk to his host. The kage growled slightly in annoyance at the disobedient demon within himself. He decided to work on some paperwork until he could get the demon to make his presents known.

XXXXX

Katsura sat up in bed and let out a yawn stretching her arms into the air. She smiled happily as she gazed out the window, a soft cough escaped her lips and her smiled faded. She hoped her sickness would have been gone already, she wanted to travel home soon. The brown eyed girl got up and got ready for the day, she grabbed her sword and tied her headband on remembering that she told Gaara of her teammates and why she wore what she did. She sighed remembering she already broke a promise to herself to never cry again.

Katsura walked down stairs to see Shikamaru laying in the couch evidently asleep. None of the hosts could be seen. The swordsmen took a seat on the arm of the chair, she wanted to wake up her best friend but decided to wait until he opened his eye a crack. She smiled brightly and Shikamaru sighed knowing what was about to happen, whatever it was, would only be annoying and troublesome.

"Shikamaru?" Katsura said sweetly "Where are Temari and Kankuro?" she asked knowing Gaara would be at the Kazekage tower.

"Out" He responded before closing his eyes again hoping the other would leave him alone.

"Oh… since there is no one here to tell me no" She kept talking hoping the lazy guy would agree "Why don't we train, I feel so useless just lying around"

"No"

The brunette placed her hand together and put on her best puppy dog eyes she could manage. "Please, Temari isn't here to say I shouldn't be training while sick"

"Quite being troublesome, you know you shouldn't be while sick" He replied in an even yet annoyed voice.

"I know but I haven't trained for a few days now and I need to" Katsura informed her friend but he just rolled his eyes and fell back asleep. She sighed and coughed while looking at her long time friend.

"Troublesome woman, if you leave me alone. I'll talk to Temari" Shikamaru sighed while Katsura smiled. She jumped off the couch and ran to hug the sleeping ninja. He just rolled over so his back was to her and she stopped.

XXXXX

Gaara stopped what he was doing and gazed out the window. He was still trying to figure out why the demon was so anxious to kill her. He thought about the events of last night, she spilled her heart out to him about her childhood and almost nothing she said indicated any reason for the demon to act this way.

'_Shukaku' _Gaara called to the plague in his mind, there was no response which was starting to piss him off _'Answer me!' _

"_**What is it you want kid" **_the demon finally spoke to his host

'_I want to know why you want me to kill Katsura' _He got straight to the point not wanting to waste time with the annoying rat.

"_**It should be obvious by now kid" **_The demon smirked in his mind _**"She cannot be reckoned with" **_

'_why? I don't understand' _He ran a hand into his blood red locks and tried to figure out what the demon was talking about.

"_**just listen to me kid" **_The demon simply said but there was something else behind his words.

'_You talk as if your scared' _Gaara smirked at the thought of the savage beast cowering in fear of a smiling girl. The demon was silent and Gaara's eyes widened as he realize that it might be true. The softest of chuckles escaped his lips. _'Are you?' _Gaara teased the raccoon.

"_**Don't even try to mock me kid. Nothing in this world can scare me but if you die so do I. So stay away from the girl" **_

'_Why would I die if I go around Katsura?' _Gaara was perplexed as the demon spoke in circles.

The beast sighed at the stubbornness his host was showing.___**Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolf bane blooms and the full moon is bright."**_

Gaara sat in stunned silence waiting for Shukaku to elaborate. _'What exactly does that mean?'_

"_**Kid sometimes you can be dumber then Naruto" **_

XXXXX

Katsura laid on the floor sighing and coughing waiting for anything to happen. Shikamaru was still sleeping, though Katsura was convinced he was only pretending, and she was waiting until Temari return so she could train or do something. She looked at the ceiling bored our of her mind and coughed hoping it would wake up the lazy guy on the couch. The sound of a door opening and slamming shut made the brunette jump up into a sitting position. She looked up to see Temari walk in with Kankuro just behind her. Shikamaru stirred to look at the pair that just walked into the room, Temari shot him a glance.

Shikamaru sat up and looked at the blonde groggily, She sneered at the lazy nin before turning and walking upstairs. Katsura and Shikamaru exchanged glances before he actually got up to follow her, both of the left over ninja's watched them leave the room. Once they were left alone Katsura smiled awkwardly towards the other and then coughed.

"You want to know what they are talking about?" Kankuro asked raising an eyebrow

"…. Yes. Yes I do" They both got up and ran as quiet as they could upstairs. They walked up to the spare room that was next to Katsura's temporary room, apparently that was where Shikamaru had been staying. The sick girl was extremely glad he didn't hear her sneak out at night, of course he probably did and just thought it was too troublesome to stop her. They both pressed their ear to the door and waited trying to be completely quiet.

Inside that room Shikamaru stood with a bored expression while Temari stared at him with her arms crossed.

"What do you want Nara?" She said way more harshly then was necessary. The lazy leaf didn't even flinch at her tone.

"Katsura wanted me to talk to you about training for something" He rolled off with ease.

She glared at him "Why don't you train with her crybaby? Or are you too weak to fight a girl?"

"It's not that I'm weak, it would just be too trouble-" he was interrupted by a snapping blonde.

"Is that all you can say?!" She yelled making Shikamaru tilt his head in confusion but his lack of response just made the wind ninja angrier "Fine if she wants to fight I'll fight her" with that she stormed out of the room kicking the door open making Kankuro and Katsura fall on the floor. Temari made eye contact with her opponent and walked off. Katsura stood up and chased after her excited for a chance to fight against one of the best ninjas in Suna.

Shikamaru walked out of the room as well and looked down at Kankuro who was still laying on the floor from the force of the door. "What's her problem?" the lazy nin asked

"Dunno but I feel sorry for Kat"

XXXXX

The two girls stood across from each other outside the house in the desert staring each other down. The hot wind blew by making a bit of sand fly by them. The two guys also stood far off from the intended battle field waiting for it to commence. Out of the corner of Shikamaru's eye he saw a glimpse of red and turned around to face the approaching Kazekage who was dressed in his normal clothes.

"What's going on?" He asked monotone.

"Kat and Temari are going to fight" Kankuro replied before he realized who it was, after a moment he turned to saw his little brother "What are you doing here?"

"I have something to discuss with Katsura" He answered looking at the girls who were getting ready to fight.

"Who do you think will win?" Kankuro asked to no one in particular.

"Temari, she has an obvious advantage as a long range fighter and has more experience" Shikamaru said barely even thinking about it.

"Way to have faith in your friend" Kankuro teased but the other did react in any way.

Katsura stood there facing her new oppenent, excitement rushed through her at being able to fight someone so strong. She brought her left hand up to cover a cough and her right hand reached back to grasp her handle of her sword. She drew it out in one swift motion and held it in front of her in the usual stance. Temari smirked and drew out her own weapon, she grabbed her fan and swung it around stopping with it landing behind her, open. Katsura was almost knocked back from the gust of wind that was created with just a simple movement. The two stood neither wanted to move an inch but Katsura thought to make the first move to try and get in close. She rushed at Temari to see how close she could get to the distance fighter, Temari smirked and swung her fan around knocking Katsura away. She landed a few feet off on her back, she groaned as she rolled over to stand up, the swordsman did not anticipate how much it would hurt if she fell in the sand. She made sure her sword was in hand before trying a different approach. She charged again but when the wind ninja swept her fan around Katsura braced her self, she could feel small cuts forming all over from inside the wind and once it died down enough for Katsura to move she charged just as Temari was about to make another attack with her fan. The blonde was surprised when she had to put up her close fan to block an incoming sword that came from the side. She jumped back just when Katsura started to go into a flurry of stabs aimed at the sand kunoichi. She kept dodging and jumping as far back as possible to avoid becoming a shish-kabob and at the right moment Temari saw on opening on Katsura's side, she aimed for the spot with her fist at the same time Katsura attacked the left. Temari moved her head to the side and the blade grazed by her, she stuck on the opposite side making the brunette stagger back. The distance was enough so that Temari could pull out her fan and knock Katsura into the ground again. Her sword fell a few feet away from its owner and slid on the ground on the sand. The sicken girl stood up and walked over to grab her weapon when she saw that the others were watching, she knew both Kankuro and Shikamaru would be there but she didn't expect to see Gaara standing with the group. With a determined look in her eye she turned around and walked forward again.

"I didn't know you were so weak Katsura" Temari shouted to her opponent she didn't really mean to insult her but the blonde had a bad habit of taunting her opponents.

Katsura was shocked by this but soon pushed it aside and her face hardened into something serious that no body thought she would be capable of. She tightened her grip on her sword and faintly Temari saw something else in her eyes.

"Itai" Katsura dropped her weapon and balled her hands into fists. She didn't move for a few seconds, just when Temari was about to see if she was okay the girl bent over to pick up the discarded katana. She grasp it in her hand and charged once more, Temari brought her own weapon around to strike but was caught off guard when a kunai flew at her making her doge the object.

"Mikazuki no Mai" Katsura's voice broke through the silence and Temari turned around just in time to see Katsura spin to attack but it looked in slow motion and there were three off her on the ground all ready to attack. Temari swung her fan around to dispel the clones, she smirked waiting for the real one to be reveled but her eyes widened when all of them disappeared. She jerked her head up just in time to see Katsura coming down from above with her sword ready to strike. Out of instinct Temari lifted her fan above her head and the blade passed right through the open spaces between the wood and the sand ninja closed her weapon making the sword stop and stick. Katsura fell to the ground in defeat unable to retrieve her sword, she started coughing harshly. Temari did not move from the spot she was looking at the blade that was only a few inches away from her face, if she didn't react quick enough that would have been a deadly blow. She sighed and relaxed bringing both weapons down and pulling out Katsura's sword from its lodging.

"Not bad" Temari said in an even voice. She was still a little shaken up, after all it wasn't too often a friendly spar turns almost deadly.

She dropped the offending weapon in the sand next to Katsura. The younger girl looked up after her coughing subsided and smiled sheepishly at the other one while scratching the back of her head. "Gomen Temari, I guess I got carried away" She picked up her weapon and sheathed it again, after using that jutsu she needed to rest her body so training was considered over. She smiled and the two girls started walking back towards the rest of the group.

"Wow Kat I'm impressed" Kankuro said just as they approached the rest.

"Don't call me that, and thanks" She smiled at the painted boy, she made brief eye contact with her long time friend and he had an eyebrow raised but she smiled at him to reassure him.

"Yosh, come on I will make diner" Temari said and started to walk off while Kankuro walked behind her complaining. Shikamaru and Katsura turned as well but a hand grabbed the girls arm and her turned around to see a glaring Gaara.

"We will be in soon" Gaara told Shikamaru who turned when he noticed Katsura was not walking with them. He once again, made eye contact with the girl but she nodded with soft eyes to tell him not to worry. As soon as every one else was inside Katsura turned to Gaara was waited to see what he had to say.

"What is wrong with you?" Gaara said bluntly after he dropped her arm.

"Well I have a sickness that runs in my family" She answered as best as she could.

"Thats not what I mean. Shukaku has been acting strangely since you have gotten here. why?" His glare was driving into the girl almost as if he could read her mind.

"I don't know" She said avoiding eye contact with the red headed boy. "We should go in now, Temari's waiting"

Gaara was not satisfied with that answer, he remembered what the demon said so he decided to use that. Katsura turned around but didn't walk forward she stood there to see if he would walk with her.

"Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night…" Gaara trailed off upon seeing her stiffen.

She turned slightly to face him "May become a wolf when the wolf bane blooms and the full moon is bright… Where did you hear that?"

"What does it mean?" Gaara demanded of the girl.

"It's my family's motto… kinda." She sighed and fully faced the boy, there were a few feet away from each other. "There are some things I don't want people to know Gaara and thats one of them"

"You will tell me, as Kazekage I order you to" His eyes never once showed any emotion except anger. He didn't know why he was acting like this.

"No, please Gaara as a friend I beg you to not ask please I don't want to talk about this" She pleaded with him but his expression never changed. "fine, but please don't tell Temari or Kankuro"

"This is none of their business" Gaara said, he crossed his arms over his chest and waited for her story.

"Well, that quote is an old saying that my family adopted after a certain incident. You see this sickness I have started with my great grandfather." She started but was unsure of how to actually say what she was trying to tell. "It has been passed down since then, what is really happening is that my body is deteriorating from in inside."

Gaara was shocked, he didn't think her being ill was that extreme. "What has that got to do with anything?"

"It's the reason for the quote. My body hasn't decayed that much, to be honest this sickness isn't that bad. Its only bad if I use my power, that I received from my great grandfather"

Gaara was getting sick of her talking in circles and interrupted her. "What happened to him?"

"After the first ninja war there were a lot of demons still wandering the country, sure the main and most powerful nine had been taken care of for the most part. But there were smaller ones that soon died off. While on a mission my great grandfather was attacked by a wolf demon and became something else. He died a few weeks later, after his funeral my great grandmother discovered she was pregnant. What my great grandfather had so did my grandpa. It was passed to my father then to me. Gaara…" Katsura's sad brown eyes locked with Gaara's blank eyes " I am a werewolf, thats why I am sick. My body cannot handle the stress from it and is in decline"

Gaara's eyes widened he didn't think something like this was possible, he had heard stories but they were just though to be mythical creatures but then again he was walking around with a giant raccoon demon sealed inside him.

"That could be why the demon is acting weird." She finished hoping the conversation would be over now.

"But that night during the chuunin exams I saw you on a full moon and you where fine." Gaara said trying to see of her story was true.

Katsura slowly pulled off her gloves one at a time and looked at her palms, it has been a while since she actually looked at them. She extended her hands face up to Gaara. He saw what looked like a seal, it was a circle with a star in it facing down there was also the ookami (wolf) kanji in the center of the star. "This seal was placed on me after I was born by my senpai. It blocks the werewolf's power so I can not transform or use any of the other power, my great grandfather figured out the seal but his body was damaged too badly by that time and he died. Unfortunately this seal is based on will and if my will slips so does the seal. The one unique thing about it is that it hurts when it slips, It was enough to make me drop my sword earlier I can't imagine how it would feel it if broke." She pulled her hands away and put her gloves on again, she looked up at the other and attempted to smile though anyone could see she was forcing her self to.

"What would happen if you broke it?" Gaara asked wanting to know everything

"I would rather die then break the seal, anyone in my family would" She answered "I will not become a beast"

"A beast?" Gaara asked as he looked of into space "We both have the same problem, people think of me as a beast, a demon and a monster. We are the same" He said amazed that there was another that was just like him.

"No we're not" She said making Gaara look at her again "Thats where we are different you have the monster sealed inside you but Gaara _I_ am the monster." She said as a tear fell down her face, she quickly wiped it away. She turned around and looked away from Gaara. He wanted to say something to her, the sight of her crying made him want to try and comfort her but as he reached his hand to place on her shoulder she ran inside the house leaving a confused kazekage standing there. After a few moments he walked inside as well to find that Katsura went to her room instead of joining the rest. Gaara decided to excuse himself to his room as well since he found he was not hungry.

XXXXX

Night seemed to come all to fast and Gaara was once again sitting on the roof, this time when he walked on the roof her was not greeted with a smiling face. He was slightly disappointed with sitting by himself in the dark lonely night of the desert. He sat and looked at the stars thinking over what Katsura told him earlier that day.

"_**Now you see why we must kill her" **_Shukaku interrupted the peaceful night.

"_No" _Gaara answered annoyed at the demon

"_**We need to kill her or else she could kill us" **_

"_If she was going to kill us then she would have already" _Gaara was losing patience with the demon

"_**She is going to betray us"**_

"_No she wont, she's not that type of person" _Gaara said more to himself for reassurance

"_**You can't trust something like her!" **_The demon roared inside his mind

"_Yes I can… We are the same" _Gaara said absentmindedly. _"We may have grown up differently and we may be different people but we both still know the pain of being a monster"_

XXXX

**YOSH! This chapter is finally done, hope you like the twist in the story. Please review.**

**Itai: Ouch**

**Mikazuki no Mai: Dance of the Cresent Moon**

**Next Time: What happens when Shukaku become more determined? What will happen with Baki?**

**Please review, Arigatou **


	15. Demon in Disguise

Thank you Fallen Rallybabe89, Jokermask, Fanny-kun, Fallen Angel3579, Ereneviana for the reviews.

Disclaimer: Don't own, Don't ask

"Talking"

'_**Shukaku talking'**_

'_thinking'_

**The Devil in the Pale Moonlight**

Chapter 15: Demon in Disguise

It wasn't true. It couldn't have been. Creatures like thats just doesn't exist. She was lying, she had to be there was no other explanation. But why? Why would she do something like that, she was an honest kind person there was no need for her to make up stories. Still something about it just didn't seem right…

Gaara sat on the roof in anger, though he wasn't entirely sure why. The sand from his gourd leaked out and was calming laying around him but every once and a while it would make harsh movements or deadly twitches in the air. The cold desert night blew his hair gently as his thoughts drifted to Katsura and her secret she told him. He still couldn't accept it, he didn't know why he was acting like this, if anything he should be ecstatic, well as much as he could be, that there is someone like him but he felt betrayed. He told her of his demon living with in him but she hadn't even hinted to her secret until he ordered her to tell him.

If he did do that then would she have even told him, something told him no. He couldn't really figure out why she was making him feel this way.

A sinister laugh plagued his mind filling it with evil thoughts that he couldn't control. His anger boiled up, he couldn't take it anymore. _"This is your fault"_

"_**Me? Didn't I warn you about this, you should have killed her sooner" **_The demon answered still laughing darkly.

"_Why… Why didn't you let me kill her when I had the chance? That night… Why?" _Gaara was trying to understand.

"_**Are you that foolish?! That night was a full moon she could have easily overpowered me then"**_

"_She wouldn't have…" _A hand ran through is blood locks gripping his scalp in pain, his head ached. The demon was starting to win in this situation, Gaara tried his hardest to fight against the entity.

"_**Don't defend a creature like that, she is nothing more then a nuisance that needs to be extinguished" **_the demon roared in anger, it was as if he was scolding a child who didn't know any better. _**"She's already proved you can't trust her" **_The sand around him started moving slowly at first but it was picking up speed, Gaara was trying to contain the beast and stop the movement of the sand but with his anger as it is it was proving to be too much for the Kazekage even though he had easily controlled it in worst situations.

Maybe Gaara himself saw that the demon was telling the truth. _"No, your wrong" _He shouted back in his head. He was now gripping on either sides of his head in agony. The beast seemed to be gaining the upper hand no matter how hard Gaara tried.

XXXXX

Katsura awoke the next morning early by a certain lazy ninja. She groggily sat up in the bed to see that both Shikamaru and Temari were prepared to travel. She scrunched her brow in confusion, she didn't remember them saying they were going anywhere.

"Katsura" The lazy nin drawled on "We received a letter from Hokage-sama"

She understood, the were needed to come home. She felt slightly downcast about having to leave Gaara after what happened the previous night "When do we leave?" She asked hoping to have a chance to speak with Gaara before they left.

"Well you see thats the problem" Temari said and Katsura looked at her with a cocked eyebrow "The Hokage still seems to be mad with you disobeying her orders so you have to remain here until the doctor clears you"

"WHAT?!" Katsura jumped up but coughed which made her sit back down again.

"Yeah, It's way to troublesome but the chuunin exams are coming up and they need me there" Shikamaru said with no interest

"We are leaving in an hour, We'll see you then," Temari said nicely but shot a glare at the lazy boy next to her before she walked out the room.

Katsura looked at her friend in disbelief. They were actually going to leave her there by herself. At least she knew she was left in good hands although maybe not the most capable with out Temari there. "So I am to just stay here?"

"Hai, thats what Tsunade-sama said" Shikamaru said uninterested.

"Shikamaru I need to talk to you" Katsura said looking at her hands while she sat on the edge of the bed. He just eyed her but didn't say anything. "I don't think I should stay here any longer"

"Why?" Shikamaru asked showing no other sign that he even heard her.

"I told him" She lowered her head waiting to be lectured about how irresponsible she had been, just like what her mom did when she told Shikamaru.

"Why do women talk in riddles, what are you talking about?" He said in a bored tone

"I told Gaara about…" She whispered but couldn't bring herself to finish "about… you know"

Shikamaru looked puzzled for a sec but the statement finally sunk in, his eyes narrowed shrewdly. "Why did you tell him?"

"I… I mean he asked since the demon in him was acting weird… around me" She said not making eye contact with her friend.

"What a troublesome thing to do" He sighed but seemed to shrug it off "We should be glad that he still will let you stay in his home"

"Why wouldn't he let me stay?" Katsura asked finally looking at her partner who just sighed and shook his head.

"Not many people are accepting of your secret" He simply answered

"I know, he's the only one here that knows… Shikamaru I want to keep it that way" She almost pleaded but the elder just sighed and nodded his head in agreement not to tell any of the other sand siblings. She stood up and hugged her friend for agreeing, he didn't move but rolled his eyes when she latched onto him. "I'll see you at the gate to say bye" Katsura smiled while the other boy just walked out of the room.

XXXXX

Gaara sat in his office gazing at the piles of paper work that has been added over the past few days, ever since Katsura arrived. He groaned in frustration as he thought of her, not only was she making him mad she was also hindering his work. He glared at the mountains of paper work that sat on the desk, he didn't have time to waste in an office while the demon was trying to slowly get him to kill once more. Then again it was the only thing he had to take his mind off of her. The door slid open abruptly, Gaara sighed when his secretary, Minagi, walked in she adjusted her glasses and looked directly at the Kazekage.

"Kazekage-sama, you have been rather distracted lately, what's going on" She asked concerned

"Nothing" He responded harshly but Minagi was used to it after being his secretary since he took the position. _'Maybe' _Minagi thought_ 'He had a fight with his little girlfriend… If he goes home they may fight again… Maybe they will break up then!' _

"You should go home and get some rest" It was a suggestion but it sounded more like a order.

"No"

"Gaara-sama this is not up for debate, you haven't been able to get any work done. Go rest, the work isn't going anywhere anytime soon"

"Thats exactly why I need to stay, I have work to do" He said emotionlessly as he grabbed a folder from the top of one of the piles.

"I can get some one to escort you home if you want" She said dryly

Gaara narrowed his eyes at her but she shrugged it off, after getting that look for so many years it tends to loose it's threatening value. "How about this Gaara-sama, I will do some of your work while you rest" The only response she received was a growl in agitation. "I am not afraid of calling the ANBU to come here and force you to leave the office" She smiled at him and walked behind the chair patting his arm to get him to stand up. He reluctantly did so and was pushed out of the office by an over excited secretary. The door was slammed in his face, he could easily go back in and force her to leave but for some reason he didn't want to. He sighed still facing the door, this would be the perfect time to talk to Katsura about last night.

"GO HOME!" screamed a voice from inside _his_ office. He shot a glare as if she would be able to see it then turned and left.

XXXXX

Katsura was standing at the gate of Suna with Kankuro saying their goodbyes to Temari and Shikamaru. Katsura was still pouting about not being able to go back as well, there was nothing stopping her travels except for an angry blonde woman with an insane amount of strength and chakra. The traveling group turned to walk away but Temari looked over her shoulder at her brother.

"Oh and Kankuro" Temari said sickly sweet "Don't let her try to leave"

"You make it sound as if she's in prison" Shikamaru drawled on while Kankuro nodded his head in agreement to what his sister said.

"At least I'm looking out for her, unlike you. This whole time you have been practically ignoring her" She yelled at the lazy ninja.

He scoffed "Who said she needed anyone to look out for her"

"Well at least I care enough to take care of her" She said offhandedly.

"Will you quit being to troublesome woman?" He said as he stared to walk off.

Temari clutched her hands at her sides. "If I'm so troublesome why don't you get on of your whores to replace me?" She said and stormed off leaving Shikamaru stunned for a brief second until his brain started up again clicking everything in place.

"So thats why she has been mad…er." Kankuro said as they once they were out of earshot, "Anyway come on Kat lets go back home"

"Don't call me that and I think I want to walk around for a bit" She coughed right after the sentence but it was short and not really noticed by the two.

"Suit yourself just don't be out too late I really don't want Temari to kill me" The painted boy said as he walked off. Katsura smiled and walked off in the opposite direction, she looked around at the scenery of this desert village. She found that the village was really beautiful in its own way. Although Konoha was really green and everything looked fresh and Suna was brown and looked old there was still something about the town that gave it character. As Katsura followed the wall around the outskirts of the village her thoughts drifted to Gaara, she still hadn't seen him since she told him and she was beginning to worry if Gaara would not want to be around her anymore…

As if on cue Katsura spotted a glimpse of red coming towards her, he had his hand tangled with in his hair as if he were in deep thought. She instantly knew it was Gaara, after all there weren't too many red head's in Suna. She coughed before walking over to the boy who seemed to have not noticed her. "Gaara…" She smiled at him but he only glared at her in return. She chuckled nervously and waited for him to say something. Silenced dawned across them and Katsura coughed once while waiting. Finally she continued to talk. "I think we need to talk about… well you know" She hung her head and waited for the other to talk.

"Why?" He spoke in a harsh voice making Katsura finch and regret what she said.

"I think it would be best to talk-" She started but was cut off.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Gaara said and she looked up at his aqua green eyes, they were filled with so many thing she couldn't even begin to describe them but the one thing that stood put was an uncharacteristic pain standing out.

"I have my reasons…" Her voice was barely above a whisper.

"_**You already know kid…"**_

"Why?!" He demanded, his voice was becoming more agitated the more she avoided the question.

"… I said I have my reasons" She looked at him again, Gaara was shocked that she looked mad at him.

"_**There's no one around"**_

"You don't want to admit it" Gaara glared once more, he tighten his grip with in his own hair, any normal person would be in pain from the grip but Gaara wasn't exactly what you would call normal.

"_**Her screams would sound so beautiful"**_

"Admit what?" The brunette looked bewildered at what Gaara was talking about.

"_**Imagine her begging for mercy as we take away her life"**_

"You didn't want me to know because you don't want to admit you are just like me" Gaara's voice held so much pain with in his anger. His blood boiled at the comments Shukaku was planting into his head, the sand around his feet started to move. It inched closer to its target which happened to be the nearest girl.

"_**Her blood would be covered all over the sand, such a beautiful sight" **_

"No Gaara thats not it" She said completely ignoring the moving sand aimed at her.

"_**Kill her!" **_

"You don't want to admit to yourself that you are a monster like me" He said, his eyes were getting more glazed over and the color was fading. The one thing that scared Katsura was that those eyes didn't look like Gaara.

"_**If we don't she will kill us" **_

"You are not a monster Gaara, I already told you" She was starting to get worried with how he wasn't acting like his usual self.

"_**Kill her now kid"**_

"Yes because if you rationalize for me then you won't have to admit that you are a monster!" He said now his eyes were no longer his own but Katsura froze at the last comment.

"_**Kill her"**_

"Monster?" Her voice was so quiet is was almost as if she mouthed the words.

"_**NOW!!"**_

At the voices command the sand shot up around Katsura. It swirled violently around her, brushing against her skin, cutting her in a few small places. She held up her arms to cover her eyes from the storm she was currently in. "GAARA!" She yelled over the noise of the sand trying to him to snap out of it. Suddenly a sharp pain struck her leg, she looked down to see sand crawling up it adding more pressure every few seconds. She screamed in agony at the assault, the sand was moving up easily, it now encased up to her thigh and the pressure was just enough to make the pain unbearable but not to crush the leg… yet.

"GAARA PLEASE STOP!" She yelled once again and immediately she was tossed like some rag doll, she skidded across the ground the the storm the was closing in on her vanished only leaving a few falling sand particles lingering in the air. She looked up from the ground unable to move her leg very much. She looked at Gaara who's eyes returned to normal and now had a fearful look in them. He backed away once he saw the cuts all across the girl with a little bit of blood trailing out of the corner of her mouth, she looked like a scared rabbit after seeing the hunter try to kill him. She slowly sat up placing both of her legs on either side of her so she was basically kneeling. Gaara saw the fresh red marks on her legs that would for bruises in no time. He gripped his head with both hands fighting a silent fight with himself, he dropped to his knees and his breathing became jagged. Katsura tried to stand but the pain was too much, and she collapsed on the ground. Gaara's face had a frightened look to it at see that he caused that pain to her. "Gaara…" Katsura whispered and looked at him. He needed to get away from her for her own good or else the demon might try to kill her again. A quick swirl of sand and the red head was gone leaving a injured Katsura behind.

Katsura's eyes widened and stood up as fast as she could ignoring the pain that shot up her leg and into her spine. She hobbled over to where Gaara once was but saw that he really was gone. Her leg screamed in protest to her movements but she gritted her teeth through the pain and set off to find him. She knew that wasn't Gaara that hurt her and she wanted to find him to tell him so.

XXXXX

Katsura walked as far as she could with the injury but eventually had to rest, she spotted an empty playground and walked over to the swing and sat down. It was dusk now and there was still no sign of finding Gaara. She fiddled with her hands that were sitting in her lap and sighed, her thoughts kept drifting to earlier. She should be mad at what Gaara did but she found that she wanted more then anything is to find him and comfort him. She remembered the look with in his eyes the way they held so much pain and she sighed wishing she never told him the truth because of what happened. Her thoughts were interrupted with a soft hand being placed on her shoulder. She turned around to hoping Gaara had found her but was mistaken when she saw an older ninja she recognized. Baki stood behind her still in his council robes, he was heading home from a meeting with the council when he spotted Katsura siting all alone.

"Katsura it would not be wise to sit here all alone" He said walking in front of her she looked at him with no expression on her face. Baki looked at this and sighed. "I have already talked to Gaara about your theory regarding your father."

"And your here to tell me it wasn't you?" Katsura said as she looked down at her feet that were gently moving back and forth moving the swing ever so slightly. The bruises started forming again just like last time… two years ago.

"No, I did kill him." He said as if it were nothing at all. Katsura started to become angry at his lack of concern. "He was a strong ninja, you should be proud."

"Proud of what? That you killed him?" She said exasperated.

"Proud that you take after him." Baki looked at her to see that her swinging stopped. She sighed and looked up at Baki.

"Why? Why did you have to kill him? Was it an order" She asked tears welling up in her eyes but she refused to cry in front of him.

"No it was not, he found out about the plans for the attack and I killed him as good faith to the sound" Katsura clenched her fists at the lack of remorse or sympathy from the elder. As if he read what she was thinking he continued to speak. "As a ninja we cannot delay judgment or feel any regret for what happened in the past"

Katsura did not respond. She just sighed. She wished that Baki wasn't who he was that way she could get revenge for her father but it turned out to be worse then she could have imagined At length she spoke. "I may not be able to forgive you at all, I cannot hold you accountable for your actions. After all you were only the pawn."

Baki placed his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him and saw the smile of sympathy on his face. She still felt resentment toward him after all he took away some one very important and very close to her. "Let me walk you back to the Kazekage manor"

She nodded her head in agreement and stood up off the swing, pain ran through her leg to remind her of what happened earlier that day. She gritted her teeth and walked alongside the older man. Baki noticed her slight limp and took a look down at her left leg since she seemed to be favoring her right, thats when he noticed the dark bruises that were on it. He instantly knew that it was the work of his old student Gaara but he remained silent not wanting to jump to conclusions. "How did someone who has not be active get so injured?"

Katsura, who was looking at the ground at the time, felt her heart almost stop. She was too busy looking for Gaara to think of an excuse about how she got the injuries. She looked up at him and smiled a bug fake smile while her hand went to rub the back of her neck. "Well I'm just such a klutz, I fell and nearly broke my leg." She added to the bad acting with a nervous chuckle. She mentally yelled at herself about how obvious she was, usually when she had to lie she would remain silent. She held her breath hoping that the other wouldn't ask anymore questions.

"You should see a doctor about that, make sure nothing is wrong with it"

"Don't worry about me" Katsura smiled once more and they continued the rest of their walk in silence. Once they reached the manor Katsura said her goodbyes to Baki and walked inside, she looked around and could not see any of the two Sabuku boys around. She wished Gaara would be home so she could talk to him but the leaf shook her head and walked upstairs. Once she reached the door of the room she was staying at but paused, there was still one place she could look for the Kage. She hurried up the other stairs at the end of the hall way and swung the top open so she could get onto the roof. She looked around but saw no one else on the roof. Although it was dark now Gaara was not at his usual place. Katsura limped over to the edge and sat down to look at the stars in the sky, she sighed and didn't stir. She hoped Gaara would show up some time that night.

XXXXX

**Bleh, too much dialogue. Anyway I hope you liked this really depressing chapter. I tried a new writing style (its more prevalent in the beginning) so tell me what you think of it. **

**Next Time: Where did Gaara go? What is he going to do about Katsura? **

**Please Review, Arigatou**


	16. Promises and Devotion

Thank you fanny-kun, avatar-chik, jokermask for the reviews

_/Searches/ "where did all my reviewers go?"_

Disclaimer: Don't own, Don't ask

"Talking"

'_**Shukaku talking'**_

'_Thinking'_

**The Devil in the Pale Moonlight**

Chapter 16: Promises and Devotion

The Sun was just beginning to rise from beyond the horizon. The cold desert air was just beginning to warm up at the first few rays of the new day. A few small animals started to wake up and move for the day. Every one seemed to be ready to start anew after some fresh sleep to recharge them selves, except for a certain insomniac Kazekage.

Gaara stood just outside the gates on Suna looking at the slowly rising sun that cast a barrage of colors on the dawn sky. He looked out onto the horizon ignoring everything around him, the desert its self looked worse for ware. There were holes and craters scattered in random intervals from the red head trying to dispel his rage. He was not only angry at the demon but also at himself for allowing the weakness that caused him to hurt Katsura. He finally calmed down after a night of destroying the sand out side the village, it was a precaution he used so he wouldn't cause any harm to the villagers, he had worked so hard to try to change his image of a blood thirsty demon and refused to let them believe in it again.

From behind the young boy his older brother ventured out. Kankuro walked out to his brother and stood just behind him silently, he didn't want to interrupted any thoughts that may be going to Gaara's mind. At length Gaara spoke not even making any movements to acknowledge the others arrival.

"I have failed" Gaara spoke with a certain emptiness that Kankuro found disturbing. It was true that Gaara's voice held little to no emotion but it was never hollow and lifeless as it is now there was always something behind his words.

"Gaara…" The puppet master started but Gaara continued talking as if nothing happened.

"When Uzumaki Naruto taught me to protect people I promised I would never hurt any one who is precious to me… but I have failed." He cast his eyes on the ground.

"When Kat came back last night I never asked her any questions about that injury." Kankuro sighed before continuing. "What happened?"

"Shukaku… No, It was myself. I hurt her, I betrayed her"

"She was really worried when you didn't return last night" Kankuro said trying to gauge a reaction. Maybe he could try to cheer up his younger brother, but there was no reaction. "Listen Gaara if you think she hates you or something your wrong" He waited for a response from the Kage but there was nothing. "Can I ask you something?" Something had been running through the Jounin's mind. Gaara nodded slightly to answer so Kankuro continued. "How do you feel about Kat?"

Gaara didn't respond, maybe he was unsure how to answer. Throughout his life the only emotions Gaara had known was anger, sadness, and bloodlust only recently had he been introduced to other emotions and he still didn't even know how to interpret what he felt if he felt anything at all. "What I mean is… how do you feel when your around her?" Kankuro tried to clarify his question.

"I feel… Like I want to protect her. She doesn't hate me, she doesn't care about the demon within me. She has always treated me like a normal person and for that I wish to protect her… From everything." He said slowly as if coming upon a realization. "Even if its from myself"

Kankuro was smiling at Gaara while he was talking but that last statement caused his mood to shatter. "Gaara don't do anything rash" He warned but it was as if the younger boy didn't even hear him.

"Arigatou... Nii-san" Gaara said and turned to face his brother. He walked past him and headed back into the village, presumably to the Kazekage tower to begin his day of work. Kankuro was still in shock what Gaara called him 'Nii-san' of course since Gaara's change he accepted both Temari and Kankuro as his siblings but never had be called them something other then their names they always thought he wouldn't be comfortable being to close to them but now it was as if all Gaara needed was some time. Kankuro smiled at his brothers retreating back and followed him into the village, he had a mission he was assigned to and needed to start. Hopefully Gaara wasn't going to do something stupid while Kankuro was out.

XXXXX

Katsura sat on the bed crosses legged with her sword laying across her lap. She was polishing her weapon as she waited for anyone to come. The leaf sighed and placed the object back into it's sheath. She thought over the previous night, she stayed up as late a she could to wait for Gaara to come home but he never did. Kankuro sat on the roof with her for a little bit but he quickly went inside leaving her to sit on the roof alone in the desert night.

She was worried about what Gaara would do, Kankuro has explained to her that he was known as a monster when they were children. Katsura could only imagine what must be going through the Kazekage's mind after what happened.

Katsura sighed and got off the bed. She had spent most of the day idly doing mindless chores trying to avoid going to visit the boy who had been plaguing her thoughts more then anyone ever has. It was at Kankuro's request that she didn't see him, he wanted to talk to his brother first. After doing nothing all day she wanted to go see him, she needed to talk to him even if the puppet master would be mad. She strapped her sword to her back and made sure she had her head band on she ran down the stairs and out the door.

She started walking calmly down the street, she hadn't realized how late it was. It was now dusk and all she did all day was wait around for Gaara. She didn't know why she was acting this way, if she were back in Konoha the day wouldn't have gone waisted. These types of thoughts ran through her mind until she reached the Kazekage tower. She walked up the stairs and into the hallway where she first arrived at when she came to Suna. Sighing the brunette walked over to the secretary desk and waited to be acknowledged by the Secretary, Minagi, who was drawing…again. The secretary looked up and scowled.

"Is Gaara in? I really need to talk to him" Katsura asked trying to be polite to the one person who hated her.

"He's working it wouldn't be best to disturb him" The Secretary answered. Katsura wasn't sure if he was really that busy or if the secretary was trying to keep them apart.

"Please its urgent" Katsura said giving nothing away, her voice was calm and collected. It really wasn't like her to be acting like this. Against all better judgment Minagi let her pass hoping she wouldn't be punished for it. Katsura smiled at her for being reasonable and walked down the hall into Gaara's office. She closed the door behind her and stood in front of his desk. Gaara made no movements from the paper he was working on to look at the newest occupant in the room. Katsura coughed softly before she decided to speak but Gaara talked as soon as she opened her mouth.

"What are you doing here?" He said said quietly not even looking up at her.

"I was worried when you didn't come back last night" She said trying to ease into a conversation with Gaara, she still had so much she wanted to talk to him about. Mainly the question of 'why?' ran though her mind but Gaara got to it first.

"Why?" He didn't want to sound angry with her but he knew if she got to close to him again he would wined up hurting her again.

"I wanted to make sure you were okay" She said wishing just once he would look at her. "I mean after what happened I wanted to make sure you were okay"

"Your the one who got hurt, why do you need to see if I am alright?" Gaara asked making sure his voice was cool but not too cold. He had to remain calm.

"You looked scared I was worried, thats all" She whispered but Gaara was able to hear her just fine. His heart ached, he had hurt her and abandoned her yet she was the one worried about him? It didn't make any sense. The red head finally looked up from his paper work and looked over Katsura, his eyes paused upon her left leg, the one that he nearly crushed. It was bruised and looked painful to even stand on yet she didn't give any hints of discomfort. Gaara sighed, he knew that if Katsura got to close to him it would end up disastrous for both. He decided that morning that he would protect her from everything… even if it meant he can not be around her.

"Why would _you _be worried for _me_?" He meant it as a sincere question but it came off way to harsh for Katsura to think anything other of it.

"Because we are friends" She said trying to put on a smile but it didn't work. Gaara knew he needed to end this now.

"I never asked you to be my friend" He said cooly, it wasn't full of hate or anything it just sounded like a fact. Katsura stiffened, her eyes started to water but she refused to let any tears fall. She cast her eyes on the ground unable to say anything, what he said was true. Never once did she ask to be his friend she just assumed. Gaara knew that line wouldn't be enough to keep her away from him and Shukaku. He waited a few seconds before continuing. "Why would I be friends with some one who can't even admit to what they are?" That hit the nail on the head, Katsura would be safe from him now.

She snapped her head up to lock eyes defiantly with him. It was just like the first time they met when she locked eyes with him for the first time. The only difference this time was that there was hatred and unshed tears welled up in her normally soft brown eyes, She turned on her head and slid the door open as fast as she could. Just before she walked out the door she turned her head just enough so she could see Gaara. "The reason I never told you about my secret is that I didn't want you of all people to treat me just like everyone else… No, you treat me worse then every one else."

Katsura stepped out of his office and closed the door. Now that she was away from him she left the tears stream down her face, she didn't want to be cruel to him but what else was she to do. She ran down the hall and out the door leaving a stunned secretary sitting with questions in her mind.

XXXXX

Katsura ran nonstop all the way back to the Sabuku manor, she ran up the stairs and grabbed her bag. Tears streamed down her face endlessly and she shoved what ever she had back into her bag. She couldn't take it anymore. She didn't understand how he could say one thing and make her feel worse about her self. She frantically packed up everything she had brought with her on the mission and slung the back pack over her shoulder, and walked down the stairs letting the tears and her pent up emotions wash over her. She was going back to Konoha whether she had a doctors approval or not, she will face Tsunade's wrath once the time came. Just as she reached the door and grabbed onto the handle it swung open in her face reveling a painted face standing in her way.

Kankuro was not expecting to come face to face with Katsura, she looked as if she had been crying not to long ago and she had to back pack with her. Things were not looking good, not at all. "What's going on?" He asked though he had some type of idea.

"I'm leaving" Katsura said in a stern voice and tried to walk past him but Kankuro caught her arm. He drug the chuunin back into the house and made sure she sat on the couch. He placed a bag he brought home on a table not too far away, apparently he stopped and got dinner since no one was there to cook. He pulled up a chair to face the girl.

"Now tell me, what happened?" The puppeteer asked hoping Gaara really didn't do anything stupid.

"Gaara doesn't want me here so I am leaving" She said showing there would be no point in changing her mind.

"Kat-"

"Don't call me that" Her voice didn't hold any anger in fact it sounded sad. "I won't run in the desert, I have plenty of water and I will only travel by night so my condition will not worsen"

"Thats not it" Kankuro rubbed his temples, he could feel a head ache forming. "What happened to make you want to leave?"

"Gaara… he… he said…" She looked as if she would confess something but at the last minute she crossed her arms and looked away. "He's a jerk thats why I want to leave" She said defiantly which actually made her sound like a child pouting to get her way.

"Why are so bothered by this?" Kankuro was trying to get to the bottom of what was going on.

"I don't know, I just am" She ended up yelling for no reason at the painted boy. "I just didn't think he would… never mind"

"That he would what?" Kankuro was getting really interested now.

"He called me the worse thing possible" She said quieter. "I've heard it before but I hurt the most coming from him."

She stood off the couch and started pacing around the room, Kankuro sat silently watching her every movement. "I hoped that he would want to be my friend… I don't know what I should do?" She said exasperated as she recalled the event in Gaara's office, fresh tears started building up in her eyes but again she refused to shed them.

"Why are you so worked up about this?" Kankuro said off handedly.

Katsura turned quickly to face him "Because I love him" She yelled as a she wiped her eyes clean from any water. Kankuro lost any smile or amusement that was usually on his face, his eyes widened at the statement that was shouted at him. Halfway through getting rid of the tears Katsura stopped the motion of her arm that covered her eyes. When the arm was lowered her eyes were wider then what should be humanly possible. She was in shock that she said that aloud. Kankuro stood up to face her.

"Listen, don't go anywhere" He looked serious which was something Katsura had rarely seen of Kankuro. "Gaara doesn't know it but I know he feels that same, let me go talk to him" Katsura nodded slightly as she sat back down. Kankuro raced out the door off to find his brother and hoped he hadn't messed everything up.

Katsura had no idea what to think or feel. The first question that popped into her mind was 'When?' when did she develop feelings for the red head and when were they strong enough to be called love. She had only been here for a few days, was that really long enough to fall for some one. And what about what Kankuro said, did Gaara feel the same or was it a ploy to get her to stay. No, that didn't sound like a stunt he would pull. She coughed while her mind raced about thoughts of Gaara and her feelings. She hung her head, there was no way the Kazekage could feel the same, he didn't even want to be her friend how could he love her? She stood up again and grabbed her bag.

"I'm sorry Kankuro but I have to leave" She said as she walked out the door. She knew he would never hear it.

She walked through town trying to get away from it all. She coughed again and started to feel a pain in her lungs. If she could make it three days everything would be okay. As she walked she noticed a crowed starting to form even though it was late a night, or more specific early in the morning. She scanned the crowd who was looking up, her eyes followed their gaze to the heavens and that when she saw something that scared her.

Gaara was hovering way above the roof tops on his shield of sand while there was another who was on some type of bird across from the Kazekage. Katsura dropped her bag and watched with the crowd. Suddenly an object fell from the bird and people started screaming, she could feel the chakra radiating off the object and knew it was some type of weapon, just before it hit the ground the sand rose up and cover the village shielding it from a large explosion. Once her view was blocked Katsura freaked, she needed to make sure Gaara was okay, she couldn't let anything happen to him.

The sand slowly moved from above the city and Katsura grew even more worried, he shouldn't have this much difficulty controlling the sand. After the line of sight was restored Katsura's heart started racing praying that Gaara would be okay. Why should she be so worried, he was the Kazekage no one could beat him. Then the unexpected happened as Katsura grew worried with every passing minute they were still in the sky. The shield that was protecting Gaara blew up and Katsura's heart stopped altogether, her eyes grew wide when she saw the sand user fall from the sky not even attempting to save himself.

"GAARA!" She screamed on the top of her lungs while others were gasping and whispering in a worried state. She pushed as much chakra into her legs and ran up the nearest building, it was a long shot but she might he able to catch him. Thats when the bird swooped down and grasped Gaara in its tail. The feeling of pain filled Katsura's lungs again and she coughed but she never lost her path, now instead of trying to catch him she chased after the bird. Her palms started burning in pain but she ignored it. She arrived at the gate just as the bombs went off blocking the exit, she coughed as the pain in her lungs became almost unbearable. Kankuro was shouting orders to some of the other ninjas.

"Kankuro… Gaara" Katsura tried to talk but found she was unable to form coherent sentences.

"I know, I'm going after him" Kankuro jumped onto the pile of rocks that was blocking the exit, Katsura started to follow, she coughed and could feel something on her hand. "Stay here!" Kankuro barked as soon as he saw the blood falling from her had and trickled down the corner of her mouth. This was making her sickness worse, too much stress on the body. She went to protest but stumbled feeling very dizzy. She tried to steady herself but fell backwards and was caught but another ninja. She needed to help, to be strong, for her, for her dad, for Gaara. She watched as Kankuro raced off after his brother and Katsura once felt utterly helpless. The world spun in front of her eyes as blackness slowly consumed her. Her eye lids grew heavy and the pain in her hands grew quiet and numb.

"Gaara…" She whispered before the blackness of unconsciousness took over and everything was silenced.

XXXXX

**Hey look a cliffhanger. And here comes the part where you people start to get mad. I will be starting my finals and stuff for this semester so I'm not sure when I will be able to update, it probably won't be for a while. Gomen Gomen. But I made a schedule when I will post I made it every two weeks for a new chapter so the next will be after my finals but I am ahead now since I finished this early but we will see. **

**Next Time: What will happen when Katsura awakes? Is Gaara going to be okay? (I think we all know the answer to that one) **

**Please Review, Arigatou**


	17. Of Wolf and Man

Thank you avatar-chik, fanny-kun, MioneRocks, Mellolicious, Fallen Angel3579, Jokermask, SnowsShadows, tsukiyukikage for the reviews. You guys rock I wasn't expecting this many reviews. I will be trying something new for this chapter… I will be putting a song into it so tell me what you think.

Disclaimer: No own Naruto… also I do not own the song "Of wolf and Man" that piece of awesomeness belongs to Metallica.

"Talking"

'_**Shukaku talking'**_

'_Thinking'_

**Lyrics**

**The Devil in the Pale Moonlight**

Chapter 17: Of Wolf and Man

Pain. Thats all there was, pain all over. Her chest felt like it exploded making it very unpleasant to even breath. Her head throbbed with a migraine that split her mind in two. Her hands… they ached worse then anything she had ever felt in her life. The distinct taste of blood came from her parched throat filling all her senses with the metallic sensation. Her eyes felt too heavy to be real, there had to be something on her face but feeling the changes in the wind indicated there was nothing. Slowly voices swam into life they were muttered and sounded a million miles away. Her eyes cracked open just the slightest and was flooded with a light that was way too bright. She groaned, oh how she hated hospitals. Whom ever caught her must have brought her to the hospital… she made a mental note to yell at who it was later. The voices were getting louder, Katsura could have sworn they sounded familiar but she couldn't bring herself to open her eyes to the offending light.

She opened her eyes a bit more and let it adjust to the brightness of the room. Her hand flew up to her hair to grip at the scalp hoping some of the pain would he redirected and eased a bit. She sat up with a grunt, the pain etched all over her body, the brunette really knew how to worsen her condition.

"Katsura-chan?" A bored voice called her to her. Her gaze was directed down away from the white light as soon as she heard that voice, her brown eyes snapped up to see silver and blue.

"Kakashi-sempai?" She looked around frantically thinking this was all a dream. Her vision passed across Naruto grabbing his bag off the wall. The kunochi smiled that he was back, her gaze then went straight to her pink haired friend, Sakura, who was leaning over some one that Katsura had never seen before… wait yes she has. That was Kankuro was was sitting on the bed next to her void of face paint. Thats when the memories started flooding back, the fight, the kidnapping and those words she spoke to Gaara. "How long have I been out?" She finally said managed to say her voice was harsh from the coughing.

"Three days" Kakashi said as if it was nothing. Katsura's eyes widened in utter shock.

"Gaara" She said fanatically "What about Gaara, where is he?"

No one said anything and Katsura's heart beat loud enough she was surprised no one else could hear it. She looked over at Kankuro, he seemed to be in a lot more pain then she was right now. He looked at her with a sadness that plagued his entire face.

"We are going to rescue Gaara now" Naruto exclaimed, his voice was different then the swordsman had remembered. It sounded mature but also determined. If she hadn't been so worried about Gaara she would have smiled at how the village prankster had grown. Instead her eyes swept across the room until she located her weapon resting next to her bed. She stood off her bed, legs shaky from lack of use, and carefully wobbled to her katana, In a deft movement she picked it up and slug it on her back. She turned to the group.

"Ready to go?" She asked and Sakura gave her a worried look and shook her head. Before the medic could advise Katsura to stay where she was the copy nin spoke up.

"Your not going" He said simply, it was not a request but an order from a higher ninja to a lower one. Katsura narrowed her eyes at her elder.

"Yes I am" She had to make sure Gaara was okay herself. She could not allow another to die while she idly sat by. The sharigan user sighed but his expression never changed, neither did his tone of voice but Katsura could tell it he was putting his foot down on this.

"No, you are recovering. You will stay here" He said evenly.

"I will go Kakashi" She yelled back at him and the masked ninja was surprised. It was the first time in Katsura's life that she didn't refer to him in a Sempai/Kohai relationship. She addressed him as an equal. He was reminded once again that she was not a child but this time she was his equal, an equal shinobi. The silver haired ninja turned around and walked out the door as he was leaving said one thing.

"Doctors orders, stay here" Naruto followed his old sensei with purposefulness in his eye.

"Gomen Katsura but you need to recover not only from the stress that was put on your body but that leg was awfully hard to heal properly, you should have gone to a medic right away" Sakura said indicating it was she who put the order for Katsura to remain. The pink haired girl leaned in and whispered something to Kankuro who nodded and then she walked out the door as well. Katsura had forgotten about her left leg and looked down to an almost healed body part, it was still a bit purple but it was fine to walk on now.

Katsura started to try and follow the others but the pain was too much and she faltered. She grabbed ahold of Kankuro's bed to steady herself.

"Your not going anywhere Kat" the puppet master said before painfully laying back down on the bed he was filling out the favor he was just asked for. She coughed roughly and turned her head to glare at the makeup-less boy.

"Don't call me that" She said before straightening herself out. "What about Gaara?" She asked looking forward so she didn't have to look Kankuro in the eye. There was a sigh.

"I trust Uzumaki Naruto to bring back my brother"

XXXXX

It had been sometime since Kakashi and team left to retrieve Gaara and nothing has been done to relieve Katsura of her worries. Temari came back soon enough to inform them she had to work late, also her and Kankuro started to scheme that when he was well enough they would go after Gaara as well. Katsura sat on the bed her knees to her chest and her arms wrapped around them, her thoughts drifted to Gaara, she was scared that he would never come back and it would be another person that she was close to the would be gone forever, there had to be a curse on her. Every time someone came close to her they would be killed and Katsura was scared to death that now she was in love with some one he would be gone as well.

Darkness had fallen over the city of Suna and Katsura sat looking at the wall in front of her, she had no idea how long this mission would take. Kankuro was fast asleep on the hospital bed next to her, or so she thought.

"You really love my brother don't you?" His voice broke through Katsura's thoughts.

"Yeah" She said still looking at the wall, there was an almost emptiness in her voice. "I really do"

There was a pause in the conversation before Kankuro sighed. "I don't know why Sakura asked me to keep you here, I am stuck in the bed after all and if you left what could I do?" Katsura looked at the puppet ninja and smiled but he was asleep once again. She jumped off the bed and half ran to the door, once she reached the frame she turned her head to look at the ninja "Arigatou" but the only reply from the sleeping puppeteer was a snore.

Katsura ran out the hospital and down the street and to the gate. She stood at the entrance of the large earth wall that was now cleaned up of any rubble from the explosion. She stood at the gate and saw foot prints in the sand leading in one directions, she chased after them hopping if she ran fast enough she could catch up in no time.

**Off through the new day's mist I run**

**Out from the new day's mist I have come**

**I hunt**

**Therefore I am**

**Harvest the land**

**Taking of the fallen lamb**

This was no time to be weak. She led her chakra into her feet to increase her speed. She could feel the cold wind whipping past her but she could feel nothing. The pain swelled inside her lungs, she knew this trip would be devastating for her body but she was being to headstrong and ignored any pain that her body held.

**Off through the new day's mist I run**

**Out from the new day's mist I have come**

**We shift**

**Pulsing with the earth**

**Company we keep**

**Roaming the land while you sleep**

It was at the darkest hour of night by the time Katsura made it out of the desert, She was now standing at the entrance of the forest unsure of where to go at this point. All evidence of where the team she was pursuing had vanished, a great trait for a ninja but it made all her hopes dashed. She could feel her will starting to slip, she had to hurry or else it would be too late for Gaara. Suddenly she didn't feel like herself, all her senses sharpened with out her knowing. The air was filled with a familiar scent, sand and something else that was hard to place. It was a sharp smell, kind of like cinnamon. Katsura knew instantly that she picked up on Gaara's trail and she raced off in that direction.

**Shape shift, nose to the wind**

**Shape shift, feeling I've been**

**Move swift, all senses clean**

**Earth's gift, back to the meaning of life**

She continued running as the forest grew thicker every few minutes. The moon shone through the canopy just over her head as she gracefully jumped from branch to branch in the tree tops. Fatigue started to set in on the young warrior continued running but in order to catch up to the others that left so long ago she did not have the luxury of time to rest. She become more worried as she left her body start to slow against her will. She needed to make it to Gaara on time or else he would suffer the same fate as every one else around her that she cared about.

**Bright is the moon, high in starlight**

**Chill in the air, cold as steel tonight**

**We shift**

**Call of the wild**

**Fear in your eyes**

**It's later than you realized**

She ran well into the morning, a feat the most ninja could accomplish but it was unwise considering it took a continuous amount of chakra to run so by the time you end up where you need to be you would be in no condition to fight. She ran all the way up until she reached a cliff, she peered over the edge and saw a big group. To her surprise it was not only Kakashi's team plus an old lady but also Team Gai was standing on the water at the bottom of where the swords master was. She jumped down and landed gracefully on the waters surface a few feet away. Kakashi looked at her no surprise evident on his masked face but he was a bit surprised that she was foolish enough to follow them in her condition. She coughed lightly while she walked over to join the group with what they were planning. Gaara's scent was very strong as was the smell of clay and some foul herbs that Katsura would have guessed were poison.

**Shape shift, nose to the wind**

**Shape shift, feeling I've been**

**Move swift, all senses clean**

**Earth's gift, back to the meaning of life**

"I guess we add one more to the plan" Kakashi said knowing she was like her mother and once on a mission she would complete it no matter what. Katsura smiled at her sempai for knowing her all too well. "Right so once the seals are removed and the boulder is destroyed we will use a regular button-hook entry" the copy nin continued and pointed to each person as he called on them "Naruto you will go first, followed by Katsura. Then it will be myself, Sakura you are next and last is Chiyo-baasama" Every one nodded in agreement.

The remnants of team 7, Katsura and Chiyo-baasama stood by waiting for Gai and team to dash off to take the seals off so they can rescue Gaara as fast as they could but they took a second to do a cheer for victory, of course Neji was extremely hesitant in joining but eventually he gave in. Katsura laughed as they finished and jumped off, Neji really changed since those academy days when he was the genius who didn't care about anyone. Naruto was excited about the cheer and tried to get every one to join.

"Come on Katsura" He exclaimed after every else said no. He extended his hand so she could place hers in his but she just laughed nervously.

"Sorry Naruto but no" She said as the blonde hung his head in defeat. Katsura may be close friends with Lee but sometime him and Gai were a bit too… eccentric for her tastes.

After a few minutes of waiting they were given the signal and Kakashi ripped off the seal while Sakura gave one of her signature punches shattering the boulder in front of them. The group rushed in and clung to the walls. Naruto, Katsura and Kakashi to the left of the entrance, Sakura and Chiyo-baasama to the right. The dust settled and Katsura's eyes fell upon the worst sight she could have ever seen in her life. There in the middle of the cave was Gaara lying on the ground in an eerie peaceful sleep but she knew some thing was wrong, Gaara can't sleep. The was a blonde man sitting on the body of the person she loved, he had long hair the was pulled up in a pony tail with a long bang folding over his eye, There was another person who was almost like a blob standing next to his companion, both wore black cloaks with red clouds. Naruto started getting angry and yelling at the lifeless body of the Kazekage but there was no response. Katsura felt her entire body go numb. This could not be happening, not again. She couldn't save him, just like she couldn't save anyone else.

**I feel a change**

**Back to a better day**

**Shape shift**

She saw the faces of her team and her father pass by her eyes. Then there was the face of Gaara, the newest one to add to those she loved but died. The tears stung her eyes and he heart broke in two, she couldn't stand to lose another person. She saw the smiling face of the man who Gaara fought, she heard his sicking laughter as he made fun of the kyuubi container only making him more worked up then he was already, Katsura couldn't take it any more the more she stood here listening to Gaara's killer the more angry she became. Who cares what happens to her she would avenge the death of the person she cared about more then anything.

**Hair stands on the back of my neck**

**Shape shift**

She could feel her hands aching in pain, they were telling her to stop but at this point she refused to listen anymore. Her hair stood up on ends and she could feel it getting longer although it was painful to experience. Her nails grew out in and looked more like claws, and though she couldn't see it she knew her eyes had changed from that carefree soft brown to yellow eyes of the demon because everything looked more detailed and her sight increased ten fold. Blood started leaking from her hand, it soaked through her fingerless gloves and dripped off the finger tips. A low inhuman growl from deep in her throat was heard and sounded dangerously in hate at the man who now had a giant clay bird.

**Wildness is the preservation of the world**

**So seek the wolf in thyself**

That bird proceeded to swallow Gaara and fly off, That was the final straw in she could feel her resolve and her grasp to humanity slip and in burst pain shot from her palms through her entire body while at the same time replenishing her chakra and strength more then she had ever had in her life. Naruto ran off after the escaping Akatsuki member with Katsura close behind, She could hear Kakashi yell after them but they ignored it and continued on their course.

Kakashi finally caught up with the fox and the wolf and started to make a plan while they ran after the giant bird. Katsura couldn't even concentrate on what her sempai was saying, she was determined to… she didn't even know. Did she want to see Gaara, get revenge or maybe she wanted to try and prove herself wrong that maybe what she saw wasn't true. What ever it was she pushed on and waited for the right moment to strike. Just then the air around the culprit they were chasing changed, it twisted and rearranged around the blonde man right in front of their eyes. Both Naruto and Katsura had to stop just from the sheer incredibility of the jutsu Kakashi was doing. Right in front of their eyes one of the arms of the artist exploded off. Katsura seized this moment and jumped high into the air.

**Shape shift, nose to the wind**

**Shape shift, feeling I have been**

**Move swift, all senses clean**

**Earth's gift**

**Back to the meaning of wolf and man**

"Rogafufuken" The voice cut through any thoughts the Akatsuki member had and he looked up to see a monstrous looking Katsura just above him with her hands posed to strike. There was the briefest glimpse where the explosions user could have sworn he saw an outline of a beast before there was a flurry of fists and claws hitting him in every direction. The attack wasn't just a random outburst but each hit was precise and there was a pattern to the rapid furry of strikes. The final blow used both hands and knocked the blonde off his bird.

Naruto came whizzing past her with his attack already to destroy the killer. It was something Katsura has never seen any ninja use but it looked incredible since it took Naruto and one shadow clone to make it. The technique cut through the birds head and he continued toward the artist. Katsura and two of Naruto's shadow clones caught the lump of clay and brought it down on he ground while the real Naruto lost control and started to beat the Akatsuki member.

Katsura pried open the mouth of the clay structure and froze at the sight. She was hoping she was wrong, that somehow her mind was playing tricks on her. She reached out her hand to touch Gaara's cheek, it was cold and lifeless. This time she didn't care how weak she looked she allowed the tears to roll down her face. Those words she spoke to Gaara only a few hours ago relayed through her mind and her stomach twisted with pain and regret.

"Katsura! Run" Naruto's shadow clone yelled at her while they grabbed Gaara's body and started to run, She glance back to see a large explosion start and she also ran, although she didn't know why maybe it was just instinct that was trying to keep her alive. They made it to an open field by the time Kakashi was able to quell the detonation with his new sharingan.

They all stood in the field with Gaara's body laying on the ground when Sakura and Chiyo-baasama caught up, it was then Katsura realized that they all left only those two to defeat the other member. Sakura immediately went to work on Gaara's lifeless body but shook her head gravely. Katsura could feel her legs go weak and she stumbled back, she would have collapsed but was caught by one of her friends, Lee. She stood there letting the tears cascade down her face, she turned and hugged onto her bowl haired friend crying into his vest remembering when she cried in front of Gaara the same way. It was the first time she cried in a long, long time. She silently wished she still had a chance to apologize for what she said, she didn't mean it she was just mad at the time. There was a small rustling in the grass and Katsura turned her head to see Chiyo-baasama kneel in the grass and place her hands of Gaara's chest. Curiously she watched the old woman's hands start to glow.

"What the hell are you trying to do?" Naruto yelled at the old woman was wasn't paying attention to him anymore.

"She's bring Gaara back" Sakura yelled at her team mate and Katsura began to grow hope, She prayed silently hoping that what ever that old woman was trying would work. But her hopes where dashed when Chiyo said she was out of chakra, thankfully Naruto offered his own and after a few agonizing minutes many ninja from Suna, including Temari and Kankuro, showed up to help Gaara as well. Katsura was amazed with the amount of people who came to help the Kazekage it was just a few days ago in the market that she saw that there were people who feared him but now she saw there was also those who respect him and really do care for him.

Right before Katsura's eyes she watched as the still body of Gaara slowly moved back into life and she smiled bigger then any smile she had ever had in her entire life. She stepped away from Lee and took one step toward Gaara when she heard some yelling from the crowd of ninja. Two girls ran up to see if Gaara was okay but Temari was in front of her brother dearest to defend him. Katsura grabbed her sword handle and brought out the weapon in a swift movement.

"Gaara-sa-" The shrill voice of the fan girl was cut off as cold steel was pressed against her throat. She slowly turned her head to see the leaf ninja glaring at her with wild animal like yellow eyes. Kakashi looked wide eyed, he could only imagine how badly this made all the Konoha ninja look.

"I think Gaara-kun needs his rest" Katsura said while feigning a smile. The two girls back off and glared back at the swords master. She wasn't really one for nicknames but it was the only thing she could think of to get them to back off, She turned her head to see the shocked face of Temari, on her other side she saw a huge cheshire cat grin on the puppet master. She put her weapon back and turned to look at Gaara but he refused to look her in the face. The scene in his office just before he was kidnapped played through her mind once again and she felt a stab of pain run through her stomach.

Gaara tried to stand but his body was too weak, he felt a hand grab onto his arm and looked to see Naruto help him up. The two who shared so much yet were so different stood side by side and looked at the old woman who ay in Sakura's arms dead, she used a jutsu to bring back the Kazekage to eradicate the mistake she made 15 years ago but in exchange for the life of Gaara her own was taken instead.

"Everyone" Gaara's cool voice broke through "Say a prayer to Chiyo" Everyone fell silent and prayed for the deceased elder. After a moment of silence Katsura looked up, she was grateful to the strong puppeteer that she selflessly gave up her life to help Gaara. The brunette looked up at Gaara and his own sea foam green eyes looked into hers with a slight questioning look but he looked away quickly. Maybe Gaara doesn't even want to see her after what she said to him, she needed to be able to find time to speak with him before she had to leave back to Konoha, this time there could be no delaying her trip back home.

XXXXX

**Another one down. Katsura doesn't like to share, he he he. Gomen, this chapter took longer then expected. And yeah I am done with school!! My first year of college is done, I'm excited. And to clear up a few things in this chapter, Katsura did break her sea(if you didn't get that) everything about her seal will be explained next chapter, also Kohai is the opposite of Sempai but that them is not usually added to a name (unlike Sempai). And Last bit of information is that I started a group on Deviantart so if anyone has an account there you should look into it. Its a fanfiction group for those who either write or just like to read fanfiction, Its called "Fanfiction Asylum" There is a link in my profile here or you can go to **

**FanfictionAsylum deviantart com **

**just replace the spaces with . So far I have no one in the club and I need more people. Also can anyone guess what anime Katsura's attack came from (hint: in english its called Wolf Fang Fist) Sorry about the long authors notes anyway REVIEW**

**Next Time: Will Katsura get a chance to talk with Gaara? Why does she need to get to Konoha with no delay?**

**Please Review, Arigatou**


	18. A Grim Goodbye

Thank you Fallen Angel3579, fanny-kun, and Jokermask for the reviews

Disclaimer: Still don't own

"Talking"

'_**Shukaku talking'**_

'_Thinking'_

**The Devil in the Pale Moonlight**

Chapter 18: A Grim Goodbye

The group stood in silence in front of the grave for Chiyo-baasama. Katsura was extremely grateful to the elder of the village for giving up her life so the Kazekage may live. There she stood praying for the safe voyage of the old woman's soul to wherever it was going in the after life. She sighed as she finished the prayer and opened her eyes which were still cast upon the ground, her demonic eyes looked at her hands. She examined her claw like fingernails, knew she had only a little bit of time to make it back to her home or else…

"Katsura, Sakura-san, Naruto-kun" Lee exuberant voice rang out snapping the young kunochi from her depressing thoughts. She turned and raced over to the group right behind Naruto, Sakura took one more second to say her thanks before returning to the group.

"What happened to you?" A voice next to the brunette said making her look up to see the painted face of Kankuro.

"Its a long story" She said and gave a small smile to the boy, of course she didn't fail to notice the one eyed glance of the copy nin. She also didn't fail to notice the glance given to her by the Kazekage but his more out of confusion then anything else. She turned to Kakashi, and Gai since he was supporting the injured jounin, "Sempai, I need to run by the kazekage manor house to gather my things before we head back to Konoha" The masked ninja nodded.

"You do not have doctors permission to travel" Gaara said giving no emotion but there was something behind his voice the indicated a hidden message.

"She doesn't have a choice Kazekage-sama" Kakashi spoke up and even though Gaara was a higher rank he didn't question or raise any argument. Katsura started to walk by herself but someone caught up to her.

"I will accompany you, there is something we must discuss" Gaara's cool monotone voice spoke and a small smile crept to her face, maybe she would be able to talk to him before she left. They started walking but a voice sounded from behind them.

"Katsura-chan!" They both looked around to see a brown haired secretary running towards them, Katsura looked confused but was even more so when Minagi smiled at her then gave her a hug. Eventually Katsura gave an awkward hug back until The secretary let go. "I just wanted to thank you for saving Gaara-sama"

"It wasn't just me" Katsura started a little embarrassed at the attention.

"I wanted to say thanks and…" The secretary looked over at Gaara who was a few feet away waiting for the kunochi. The girl with glasses lowered her voice a bit "I give you permission to date the Kazekage"

"um… Thanks?" Katsura said confused as to why she needed the secretary's permission for anything.

"Also I may have found someone new" She blushed and smiled. Katsura smiled back before they said their goodbyes and Katsura continued walking next to Gaara to go back to the house.

XXXXX

Once they got to the house Katsura grabbed her bag which was laying by the front door. She remembered dropping it not to far from the front of the house during the attack. She figured Temari must have put it back inside. She turned around to see Gaara looking straight at her, his aqua eyes bore into her as if he was trying to read her mind to get all the answers he wanted. At length he spoke.

"What happened?" It was a question but it was stated in such a way that it sounded like a demand.

Katsura cast her eyes on her feet in shame. How was she to answer a simple question such as that? "You have to understand there was two s-ranked criminals there" She started quietly, there was no was of saying what she was about to. She looked up to face Gaara. "In desperation I did something I shouldn't have"

Gaara raised an eyebrow-less eyebrow in confusion at how once again she was talking in circles. This time since there was no voice in the back of his head speaking he stayed silent to let her continue. "I was afraid for you so I…" a cough interrupted her "I broke my seal to use the power of the wolf" She waited to gauge his reaction.

Gaara was speechless, he was confused, he was so many things. Things ran through his mind that some people would call emotions but to him it was nonsense, it was confusing, it was foreign. They were indecipherable to him, the only words that he could form was... "Why?"

"I told you I was afraid-" The leaf was cut off and a harsher voice spoke.

"Why would you be afraid for me?" Those words that she spoke to Gaara ran through the red heads mind, at the time he gave them no thought he just wanted to protect her but in truth they were eating at him ever since she stormed out of his office.

"I… I…" She couldn't bring her self to confess what she wanted to tell him. "Your my fri-" She stopped herself in remembrance of how the sand user said he never wanted to be her friend. "I don't know"

In truth she really didn't know why, she was in love with the man but he didn't want her and he never would so why did she even risk her life to try and save him. Of course she failed at that as well, just like everyone else who was close to her Gaara died as well.

The kage of the wind could tell that she was going to say she was his friend but decided against it. His heart retched in pain, he remembered exactly what he said to her and regretted it now. He knew there was something he should do, he should apologize to the chuunin but the words echoed in his mind.

'_No, you treat me worse then every one else'_

He looked over the younger girl, her hair was darker and longer then before, her nails resembled claws but the one thing that shook up the kage was her eyes. He remembered that those brown eyes could smile so brightly that Gaara could feel content but also be so sad that he wanted to protect her but now they were yellow monstrous eyes. He could understand why the demon that used to be sealed inside him wanted to kill Katsura, those eyes alone were deadly. One more thing popped into Gaara's thoughts, it was something he asked before but never got an answer. "What happens now that the seal is broken?"

The leaf chuunin's heart nearly stopped this was one question she was hoping that Gaara didn't ask, she didn't want to speak it aloud but had no choice. "Well…" She scratched the back of her head and gave a awkward chuckle her previous sadness forgotten momentarily. "This is why I have to travel back to Konoha" She removed her glove on her right hand to show the scabbed and scared symbol on her palm. "I have to get my seal put back before the next full moon"

"Why?" Gaara had a feeling this was no going in the best directions.

"Well" She started as she replaced her glove on her hand. "If I don't have the wolfs powers sealed back up by the full moon I will transform into a complete werewolf, you see right now I am more of a partial wolf" She saw the slight confusion on the others face. "You see I can use the power of the wolf even when its not a full moon but it does harm my body. When the full moon comes I will have no choice but to transform into a full wolf since its automatic you could say." She chuckled at how this all sounded but Gaara held no amusement in him.

"What will happen if you transform?" Gaara asked.

"This is why we are different Gaara, you were in control of Shukaku I am not in control of my demons, I will become a bloodthirsty monster that will kill everything in its path." She looked down, she didn't want to even look Gaara in the face now "And by dawn the damage to my body will be so great that… I will… die" She snapped her head up with a morbid smile plastered on her face. "Of course Tsunade-sama will not allow this, if anything goes wrong in the sealing process I will be killed so I won't transform"

The red head looked wide eyed to the girl in front of him. There was a great chance they she was going to die upon returning home. Gaara couldn't even find his voice to speak, in his mind he thought over what he was taught as a child, each shinobi had to learn about the moon cycles so if something happens they could estimate what day it was, it had been a half moon for a few days certainly now it was in the waxing stage which meant that there was a only a few days left and it took three days to travel back to Konoha. The process had to start almost immediately upon her return.

"We should probably head back now the others might get worried" Katsura said before turning to make sure she had everything. Gaara stood, this could be the last time he would see her. He had to say something, he had to apologize. The former demon host reached out his hand to place on her shoulder but she walked out the door and his hand made contact with air, she was just out of his reach.

XXXXX

Gaara walked Katsura to the gate of Suna where the others were waiting. With a sigh she joined the rest of the two teams for the long voyage home. They stood facing the village with the kazekage and his siblings facing them, it was the time to say their goodbyes before heading back home. Naruto and Gaara stood facing each other neither spoke for a minute until the hyperactive knuckle head himself spoke up.

"I guess this is when you normally shake hands and part ways but I'm kinda bad at that sort of thing, so…" The blonde stopped in mid sentence making the group confused until they saw that Gaara had extended his hand to say a proper farewell to the one who saved him from everything. A smile crept onto Katsura's face as well as everyone else's. Naruto stood there, no one was sure if it was out of shock or what but he didn't take the Kazekage's hand right away. Sand drifted up from the ground to grasp onto the kyuubi vessel's hand and bring it up. The two who shared so much but are so different clasped hands in a final farewell before they had to part ways for who knows how long.

After all the goodbye's were said Team Gai, Team 7 and Katsura started walking away from the village not knowing when the next time they would be able to see the desert village again, if they would ever.

Katsura walked behind the group glancing over her shoulder one last time to see Gaara still standing there though his siblings were turing to head back into the village, she could see Kankuro place his hand on the red heads shoulder. Her heart filled with regret, there were so many things she wanted to say to him but she couldn't, it wasn't meant to be. Or was it?

"Hey Katsura" TenTen walked over to the swords mistress "When we get back to Konoha…" The girl with buns kept talking but she was drowned out with Katsura's thought racing through her mind.

Should she really just leave with out saying something? But it was too late, the time is pasted if he really felt the same like Kankuro said then he would have done something to indicate he did. She sighed in confusion, why did all of this have to be so difficult. Her thoughts continued racing while the weapons user continued to talk about something Katsura wasn't even remotely paying attention to. Suddenly she stopped walking altogether making TenTen stop as well which caught the attention off the rest of the group. _'maybe I should just tell him to see if he does feel the same, after all he probably wouldn't understand what he is feeling if he does feel something… right?'_

"So" TenTen waved a hand in front of Katsura's eyes "what do you think?"

"Yeah" Katsura said in a trance like voice "Your right!" She exclaimed making every one look at her in confusion but she didn't notice. Quickly she turned around and started running back to the Suna gates. "GAARA!" She yelled out to try and get his attention, it was successful since the sand ninja turned around to face her. In a instant she crashed into the taller boy and wrapped her arms around his neck pulling him as close as he possibly can be. Gaara stiffened unused to this much contact, slowly he relaxed as Katsura kept holding onto him. He wrapped his own arms around her waist and closed his darkened eyes. Something ran through him but he couldn't place what he was feeling, all he knew it that he was content.

Katsura moved her head to look him in the eye as Gaara did he same, he felt saddened by the fact she was pulling away now but he allowed her. Out of no where the brunette locked eyes with him once more before she closed her eyes and her lips gently brushed over the sand users. Gaara's eyes widened as big as they could and he stiffened, Katsura only deepened the kiss. After a few seconds the red head finally got his brain to function again and took realization at what was going on. He slowly closed his own eyes and hesitantly kissed back. Katsura broke the kiss but didn't fully pull back instead she stayed as close to Gaara as she could, in a whispered hush voice she spoke to him.

"I love you Gaara…" She could feel the older boy stiffen and she knew his eyes were open again. She pulled back more to face the tattooed kage. "I know you may not feel the same but…" She trailed off when Gaara hugged her tighter making her lean her head on his chest, she smiled brightly letting it take up her whole face.

"I…" The harsh voice of the boy broke through to Katsura and she pulled back to look at him "I…" He trailed off, his face contorted on frustration, he had no clue what he should do or what he should say all he knew it that there was some unknown force drawing him to the girl who was clinging to him. "I… want to protect you…" Was all he managed to say, his face sadden. He should say more but he didn't know what. Katsura didn't seem to mind since she replaced her head on his chest and squeezed tighter. After a what seemed like an enjoyable entirety Katsura pulled away and out of his grip. She cupped his cheek and smiled.

"I have to go now but I promise to send a letter after the sealing process" Gaara had a look of concern on his face before she spoke up.

"What if-" For some reason he couldn't bring himself to the realization this may be the last time he could see her.

"If its not successful I will have the Hokage-sama send you a letter" She still had her hand on his cheek when she leaned up to place a soft loving kiss on his kanji etched into his forehead. With one last smile she said goodbye. She turned and ran back to the group who was waiting for her, Gaara watched her retreating back, she turned and waved before they left and he could no longer see them in the hot desert. The kage felt at peace for the time being but he knew that he would be worrying about her, after all he could do nothing to protect her from this. The only thing that disturbed him was the sing song voice of the puppet master to his older sister.

"I told you so… Itai!" Of course a loud smack of the fan over his head rang through the air as well.

"Baka you killed the moment." The blonde shouted in rage.

XXXXX

TenTen stood confused watching the scene unfold before the groups eyes. Sakura walked over to the weapons mistress confused as well. "What were you guys talking about?" She asked

"Not that" TenTen replied as Katsura caught up with the rest of the group. "What was that all about?"

"I couldn't leave without telling him I love him" She smiled brightly making it take up her whole face and she walked past them. The whole group winced when they heard a rather loud outburst of emotion involving the words 'Love, Joy, and Youth'. Out of nowhere Katsura was snatched up in a bone crushing hug from behind, out of the corner of her eye she saw black hair.

"Gai-sensei is right, I am so moved by your wonderful declaration of Love" Lee stood holding onto his friend as if he allowed her to breathe then the world will end while tears streamed down his face. All of a sudden he dropped her and ran up to the pink haired medic. "Sakura-san will you be my girlfriend-" He was cut off by an angry fox's yell.

"Bushy Brow, Sakura-chan is not interested in you. Sakura-chan will go out with me?" He gave a cheesy smile but she glared at him instead, walking up to the blonde who was oblivious to the mad Kunochi she hit him upside the head. "Sakura-chan what was that for?" He whined.

"Don't be so mean to Lee-san" She yelled.

"We really need to be heading back now" Neji's commanding yet annoyed voice broke through the commotion and eventually everyone started walking as well. While they were walking Katsura heard her voice being called she looked behind her to see Kakashi, who was being supported by Gai, wave her over. She slowed down so they caught up with her, since neither could walk very fast at this point they were well behind the others so they couldn't hear.

"Katsura-chan, I think we need to talk" The masked ninja started with a serious look in his normally bored looking eye. "I know I am not your father but you need someone who you can talk to… so" The copy nin was really at a loss for words here, he didn't have any kids of his own so how was he to know what to say. "Are you sure its wise to start a relationship with some one from another village?"

"… I don't know, I know I love him and he feels the same so I think its worth a try. Don't you Kakashi-sempai?" She said honestly.

"Sure" The silver haired man sighed, he had to bring it up now "You know Guys are only interested in one thing…" He trailed off not knowing how to say it.

"You mean the kind of things that are in your Icha Icha books?" She replied smugly.

The jounin placed a finger to his chin in thought. "So you figured out what was in those huh?" He looked at the young girl and she nodded, after a few seconds a thought dawned on him. "How did you find out what was in those?"

Katsura's face went scarlet and her eyes widened. "I… uh. I just overheard people talking about it…" She looked up at her sempai and smiled "Gotta go" She hurried over to the rest of the group leaving a smirking copy ninja behind.

After a long time of walking the two sensei's started falling way behind the rest of the group so TenTen decided to have a bit of fun with them. "Hey!" She turned around to wave at the injured sharingan user and the peeved green beast. "Both you senseis are too slow" She laughed at them before turning around to walked with every one else. Out of nowhere they heard Kakashi's shouting and the turned around only to see Gai giving the other man a piggyback ride. _'… That looks so wrong' _Katsura thought before the older beast went running off in a blur of green, silver and sparkles. They turned back around to see Lee with his backpack strapped to the front of him waiting.

"Neji"

"Oh hell no!" The jounin exclaimed, eventually every one tossed their own bags to the Gai clone and he went racing off in a blur after his teacher. Neji shook his head in shame that he still hung around him even though he didn't need to, though the Hyuuga would never admit it missions would be quite boring without Gai and Lee's antics. "How come they always act so inappropriate?" The stoic ninja said to no one in particular. Katsura walked up next to him and nodded.

"That didn't look like it could be good for sempai." She agreed with the the Byakugan user. She slowly picked up her pace so she was leading the group instead of the other boy.

"The whole situation is entirely inappropriate behavior for two ninjas of Konoha to conduct themselves like" Neji retorted while he quickened his pace to surpass the brunette girl.

"I agree, I mean Kakashi-sempai is injured as it is, he might get hurt worse." The swordsman said while going into a slight jog to catch up with the long haired boy.

"Yes, They always insist on doing things like that" He jogged himself to once again surpass the girl he was talking to.

"I know, they really shouldn't" Katsura said jogging to get in front of the genius. Neji and her locked eyes and with a slight glare the Hyuuga raced off leaving a stunned Katsura behind in a trail of dust, she narrowed her eyes and ran to catch up with him.

"Hey what about me?" Naruto shouted to the retreating figures of everyone one before he ran to get involved in the race. TenTen and Sakura exchanged annoyed glances and they sighed in sync with each other before they ran off to catch up with all the idiots of their groups.

XXXXX

**The title makes me laugh. Gomen about the late update!! I had the worst case of writers block… Please don't be mad. I only have one announcement this time, I am considering writing a sequel to this one and I have a few ideas so I wanted to get some feedback if the readers wanted a sequel or not? I will take a vote so in a review just put if you would read a sequel to this one, depending on what people say I may or may not write a sequel. Also the ending of the story will be affected by the outcome of the poll. **

**Next Time: What will happen when they arrive home? Will the sealing process be a success?**

**Please Review, Arigatou!**


	19. Sealing the beast

Thank you avatar-chik, Sei no Gaara, Jokermask, fanny-kun, Gaara-frenzy, for the reviews

Disclaimer: Still don't own

"Talking"

'_**Shukaku talking'**_

'_Thinking'_

**The Devil in the Pale Moonlight**

Chapter 19: Sealing the Beast

Short of breath and muscles burning in pain of the constant running from the desert Katsura arrived at Konoha just a hair in front of Neji. She smiled triumphantly to the Hyuuga but of course he denied his participation in the event of racing. The brunette laughed it off and turned to Gai and Lee, who was writing something in his notebook.

"Yosh!" The overly exuberant man exclaimed making his masked cargo bounce around. "Its time to report to Tsunade-sama"

"uh… Gai-sensei?" Katsura said concerned, He turned to face her confused. "Is Kakashi-sempai dead?" A look of realization dawned on the taijutsu master and he turned his neck to look at the damaged jounin.

"I guess we should get him to the hospital" He yelled but it was actually his normal voice.

"Tell Kakashi-sempai I will visit him later… There is something I must do" Katsura said and the others nodded, in the three days of travel she ended up telling them all about her condition since it was quite obvious, she was happy to say that they still were her friends and accepted her. She waved at the group and started walking in the direction of her house.

"Katsura" The swordsman turned to see an abnormally serious Gai looking at her "You know tonight is the full moon"

"Hai!" She responded sadly but it quickly disappeared and she had a smile on her face. "Don't worry I will meet you and your team for training as soon as I can" She smiled and Gai gave her a classic "Nice Gai Pose" but since his own hands were holding onto Kakashi she moved the silver haired man on his back making his hand do the thumbs up part while Gai's teeth sparkled. She just laughed and continued her walk to her home.

Her thoughts raced through her mind resting on Gaara, she was worried how he was handling the situation going on. She knew he had a hard time understanding emotions and right now he must be feeling a lot of strange emotions along the lines of worry. She sighed with her heart filled with sorrow, she didn't want to burden Gaara with this but what other choice did she have. A deep bark pulled her out of her thoughts and looked up to see a rather large brown and white dog standing in front of her with a boy on top who had two red triangles on his cheeks.

"Hey Katsura, you back from your mission I heard you got hurt or something" Kiba said slipping of the large beast of a dog. He smirked at her but something caught his attention, he walked up to her and sniffed. "You smell different, what happened?"

"Its a long story I don't really have time now Kiba" She said noticing Akamaru raced off in the background only to return holding a few flowers in his massive jaw. He walked over to the wolf girl and dropped them at her feet, she smiled at the dog and picked them up. She petted the dog nin's head affectionately and thanked him for the flowers.

"I swear that dogs got a crush on you or something" The trainer laughed while his hand ran through the dogs fur on his side. Katsura chuckled, she remembered the first time she met Kiba. Akamaru wouldn't stop following her while she was training and Kiba was forced to spend an entire day with her until he was able to pry away the dog, he had been saying that same line since day one.

"I have got to run Kiba, I will see you around" She waved and raced off, she couldn't delay her trip home any longer. She ran down the street toward where she lived. He kept thinking of what will happen now, the last time she had to go through this was when she was a baby and its not like she could really remember that. The only thing that ran through her mind was who would conduct the process itself, last time had been her sempai cause it had to be some one who not only knew how to preform the ritual but also had great chakra control and was close to the family. The Hakate family was very close to the Gekkou family because Kakashi's father, the white fang of Konoha, had been the one to seal her father Hayate. She had to think of someone who would be able to learn the ritual and do it on short notice.

Without realizing where she had been going she now stood in front of her house, She carefully set down the flowers in the flower bed that lined the front of the apartment complex where she lived at. Taking a big breath and exhaling to calm herself the brunette ran inside the complex and into her house. She looked around hoping to see if her mother was at home but she saw no sight of the purple haired women. She sighed and took off her shoes before walking into the house any farther. She walked around the dark house looking around with a sense of dread following her, how was she going to tell her mom what happened? She wandered over to a small table that was set up with picture frames all over it, there were several pictures of her and her mom together the one picture that caught her eye was one of her favorite pictures. There was a younger version of herself sitting on the grass all bruised and cut up while her dad bandaged her up with a smile on his face. It was one of the only picture she had of her father, she picked up the photo and looked it over.

"Gomen…" She whispered to her dad in the picture. "There is no way I can avenge your death, but I will work hard to become something that you can be proud of" She smiled at the photo. She heard the sound of the door opening and closing and a loud sigh accompanied it. Yugao strolled into the house and placed her ANBU mask on the entryway table as she stretch to try and relax from a hard days work.

"So I see your finally back, rumor has it the Kazekage was attacked. What happened?" She asked her daughters back who was looking at the picture of her father.

"Yeah," Katsura said placing the photo on the table she couldn't bring herself to turn around just yet. "By the Akatsuki but we saved him…" Katsura had to tell her mom as soon as possible before it was too late to even try and save her. She slowly turned around and she her a gasp come from her mom, she looked up at the taller woman and could see her eyes well up with water while concern etched into them.

"Kat, what happened?" the ANBU member asked worry evident in her voice, she already had to lose her lover there was no way she could lose her child as well.

"I broke my seal to protect the Kazekage" She said honestly, she could see what her mom was thinking so she decided to explain her actions. "Its because I love him"

"You love Gaara-sama?" She asked in disbelief. Her child was already grown up. Pain ran through her she couldn't allow her only child to die because she was too rash to keep her seal in place.

'_How does everyone but me know that Gaara is the Kazekage?' _Katsura thought but before she could voice her question her mother started talking in a commanding voice fit for the captain of a squad of ANBU.

"Ok we will need to speak with Tsunade about this and get a team of medic to preform in the sealing process, we will also need Kakashi to lead it-" A nervous chuckle cut of the worried mother and her turned her head to see her daughter scratch the back of her head.

"Thats the problem, Kakashi-sempai was injured… He's in the hospital." Katsura said as she watched her mom go wide eyed.

"No he can't be" She started pacing. "Without him there is no way the process can be complete, he's the one who actually forges the seal onto you" She was really worried, as an ANBU member Yugao never acted this way she was always calm and collected but she could slowly see all ties to her family falling apart.

"I have an idea of who can replace sempai in the ritual" Katsura spoke up "He would fit all the requirements we need too" She smiled and her mother had no choice but to take her daughters word.

"Alright then, I will inform Tsunade and ANBU you get who ever you need" She commanded while dashing off to the Hokage tower and Katsura did the same but in another direction.

XXXXX

"gee Grandma, what big eyes you have" A bored voice said after he answered the door to an animalistic Katsura. "Let me guess you broke the seal?" He said without so much as a hint of concern in his voice. "Troublesome woman" Shikamaru said while he widened his door a fraction to indicate that she may enter his house. He walked away from the entrance with his hands were shoved into his pockets.

"Come on Shikamaru this is serious I need you help" She pleaded her anger rising ever so slightly.

"Alright take it easy, don't blow my house down" He said yawning.

"Shikamaru!" Katsura yelled peeved at the older boy, he just plugged his ear the was closest to her and shrugged.

"Alright troublesome woman what do you want?" He drawled on in his normal voice.

"I need you to lead the sealing process" Katsura said making the lazy ninjas eyes widen in surprise.

"Why me?" The shadow user asked his voice took more of a concerned take. "I'm not a medic"

"I know" The brunette sighed this could be difficult to explain. "That doesn't matter, the medics in the process are only there to supply chakra, what you will be doing is placing the seal on me. I need someone who will be able to control his chakra carefully and will be able to learn the ritual on a short notice" She explained.

"There are more skilled medics who will be able to conduct the ritual." The ponytailed boy said not convinced.

"It also needs to be someone I am close to" She confessed making the older boy sigh in defeat, it will have to do the troublesome thing of helping his friend with something she shouldn't have gotten herself into.

"Alright, when will it take place?" It would be a bother but what were friends for.

"In a few hours you need to talk to Kakashi-sempai to learn how the process goes, it will be at the hospital." She said while the other nodded and muttered something along the lines of 'troublesome woman'. Katsura smirked. "At least I'm not as troublesome as Temari." Shikamaru instantly stopped talking and tried to ignore her. "Why won't you admit Temari is the most troublesome woman you have ever met?"

The lazy nin narrowed his eyes at his troublesome friend but turned away shaking his head. "You know" he said not looking at his friend. She grinned and recalled the scene from years ago. It was just before Shikamaru's first mission as a chuunin. Katsura came over to his house which she seemed to be doing more often everyday. It was her first time dressed in all black yet she wore a smile on her face at the same time. Shikamaru of course called her troublesome and thats when she said those words that gave a chill up Shikamaru's spine.

_Flashback_

"_Oh come on I'm not that bad." A younger Katsura said while sitting at the table across from Shikamaru and next to his dad. Shikaku laughed at his son squabble with the young Gekkou. _

"_You know you're going to fall in love one day and then-" The brunette was cut off. _

"_So I'm going to find a girl whose not troublesome" Lazy boy said with a drawl of drowsiness in the early morning, _

"_No!" Katsura smirked evilly, which was the first time Shikamaru had seen her do that "She's going to be the most troublesome woman you ever meet in your life" _

_End Flashback_

"We need to keep our mind on the process" Shikamaru broke her memory with seriousness in his voice. Katsura nodded in agreement and waited for the other to go through the plan, after all there was a reason he made it to a chuunin before anyone else in her and his class. " I will talk to Kakashi-sensei and learn the process, unfortunately we will have to conduct it asap so there is a high chance I may mess up."

Katsura smiled and hugged her friend. "I trust you Shikamaru"

XXXXX

The ER in the Konoha hospital was filled with medics and ANBU members. Tsunade was barking orders to all the new people while Shizune was getting everything prepared fro the process. An squad of ANBU members stood in the back just in case anything went wrong with the process they needed to protect the village and Hokage. The writing was ready on the floor and Katsura stood in the middle next to Shikamaru was actually seemed nervous. Slowly the medics took their place for the ceremony and waited orders.

"Katsura" the lazy boy next to her spoke while every one else was trying to get prepared. "You and Chouji are my best friends I don't know what I will do if I lose one of you because of me"

"You'll do fine Shikamaru, I have full faith in you" She reassured the older boy and smiled. Everyone fell silent when the Hokage raised her hand, all eyes fell on the old gambler.

"This process will be short bur extremely vital, 10 medics including myself and Shizune will work to supply chakra at all times. If anyone of you feel weak during the process have someone replace you or else the ritual can go wrong." The old woman spoke with such a commanding voice which was different then her normal voice she used in her office. She turned to Katsura a nodded her head indicating she can speak now.

"If anything goes wrong at all please put the safety of the village over my life" She said in a serious voice and watch all the masked ANBU nod except for one with purple hair and a bear mask, slowly she too nodded with a heavy heart. Katsura walked to the center of the incantation on the ground and locked eyes with Shikamaru before she sat down facing Tsunade at the head of the circle.

One of the medics placed a pad on her chest to take her heartbeat while the process started, the monitor sat outside the circle and gave a steady rhythm. She clasped her hands together and felt the shadow user place his shaky hand on her shoulder. He slowly formed the chakra into his hand with the rest of the team started moving there chakra toward the girl, the over load of energy was a very uncomfortable feeling for the young girl but there was nothing that she could do. Her palms started to sting indicating the seal was started to reform underneath her skin again. The mass amounts of chakra in the room made the air start to pick up and with around the people standing there. The process was now beginning.

XXXXX

Over in Suna a certain red headed Kazekage was buried in paperwork at his home. Temari had been making him come home earlier everyday since his death and revival, his body was unused to being without the demon sealed inside him and he tires more easily then he used to. He was still weary about sleeping and didn't do it very often even though his body now requires it, there was just something about laying unconscious and vulnerable for six hours a night that just didn't feel right to him. Temari walked in with a tray of food for her younger brother since he wouldn't come down stairs and get it himself, she placed the tray on his desk. There was a mumbled 'thank you' but nothing else. The eldest sabuku sibling sighed.

"Gaara you need to take a break" She tried reasoning with him but he continued his work as if she said nothing. She waited a bit longer before she gave up and started walking out the door, she stopped when she no longer heard his pen scribbling on the papers in front of him.

"Tonight is a full moon" Gaara said in a disquiet voice. Suddenly the wind mistress realized why Gaara had been working so hard these past few days, he was fearful for a certain chuunin from Konoha. The blonde looked out the window at the sun which was preparing to lower its self.

"Don't worry I'm sure we'll get a letter from Katsura in the morning" Temari said to console her brother but he didn't indicate that she said anything. She sighed once more. "Just get some rest" With that she left the red head alone.

XXXXX

The ritual was now in the middle stages and the wind was trashing around the ER while chakra was being pumped into the girl to over power the demon which was released when the seal broke. The genius concentrated his hardest to reform the seal without making any mistakes, if he slipped even the tinniest bit she would have to be killed. Sweat dotted his brow and his muscled began to ache in fatigue but he continued on to save his friend's life.

Katsura was in the utmost pain, the massive amounts of energy felt like it was trying to make her body explode. Her hands screamed in torment while the seals were reforming very painfully one layer of skin at a time. The beasts chakra was being drained from her body and her claws started to reshape back into normal hands. Her sight began to return to normal which meant her demonic eyes were no more. Blood started to run down the length of her arms indicating the seal was getting close to being reformed. She could see one of the medics trade places with one who was standing by, she even saw that Tsunade looked like she was tiring shot of pain ran through her body as more of the vile chakra was drained from her.

The pain was beginning to build up but she gritted her teeth. An image of Gaara ran through her mind and knew she had to survive for him, she wanted to be with him. Her thoughts her broken but another burst of pain on her palms making her involuntarily scream out in pain. Shikamaru looked up from his hand to look at her but thats when the monitor started beating erratically. The ponytailed boy looked at the screen and saw the lines moving up and down way to fast, the air picked up when the medics stared to supply more chakra. Katsura screamed louder them before making Shikamaru look frantically back at his hand, he noticed he stopped running chakra to her when he looked up. _'Shit, I broke concentration' _He continued to try and forge the seal again but the damage was done, The ANBU grabbed their weapons and waited for orders. Shikamaru's heart started racing faster, he had to fix this and quick.

XXXXX

The sun was high over the dessert sky heating up the hidden village. One brown hawk flew swiftly straight to said village hidden with the desert. It made its way gracefully gliding through the air with ease before landing at the aviary in the Kazekage tower. The keeper of the birds sat resting on a simple wooden chair but he stirred awake when he heard the caw of an unfamiliar bird. He looked and instantly recognized it as one of the hawks Konoha uses to send scrolls. He grabbed the scroll of the birds foot and unrolled it open. He scanned over the words and he instantly ran with the scroll in hand to the Kazekage office. He knocked on the door in a rush and entered before Gaara told him to enter. He was out of breath and the sand ninja looked at him at bit irritable.

"Gaara-sama a scroll just arrived from Konoha regarding Katsura-san" The messenger handed the scroll over. Gaara's heart started beating as his eyes fell down to the scroll, his heart stopped when he saw the Hokage's seal on it.

XXXXX

**You know cliffhangers **_**are**_** fun. I started another story if anyone is interested its a LeeOC story called "Angel of Music" (yes another movie quote title) but I know Lee fangirls are hard to come by but if anyone would like to read it just go on my profile and read away.**

**Next Time: How does Gaara react to the scroll?**

**Please review, Arigatou**


	20. Kirameku Namida Wa Hoshi Ni

Thank you Sei no Gaara, fanny-kun, jokermask, NejiTenSasuSaku4eva, Gaara-frenzy ShikaKibaShinoGal for the reviews

Disclaimer: Still don't own

"Talking"

'_**Shukaku talking'**_

'_Thinking'_

**Singing**

**The Devil in the Pale Moonlight**

Chapter 20: Kirameku Namida Wa Hoshi Ni

The sounds of almost silent footsteps echoed through the halls of the Kazekage tower as a certain puppet master ran to his brothers office. A messenger woke him up causing him to be in a very irritable mood, but that quickly passed when he heard there was news about Katsura's condition. Now the make upped boy skidded to a halt in front of the Kazekage office to find out what happened. Temari has been sent on a short mission in the morning as a substitute Jounin for a team of Genin so she was due back shortly. The brunette quickly opened the door and stepped inside the office waiting to gauge what the news was based on Gaara. He looked and saw the red head standing facing away from him, his gaze was out the window. He watched the people below him but was eerily silent. He didn't even move to show his acknowledgment that his older brother entered the room.

"Gaara?" The elder spoke hesitantly. Gaara turned his head only slightly so Kankuro could see his morbid look. When the younger Sabuku looked back out the window thats when the other saw the scroll on the desk. "Is this from Kat? How long until that old hag will allow her to come back to Suna?" Kankuro walked over to it and picked up the small scroll only to see the Hokage's seal over the edge. He remembered that Katsura said if anything went wrong the Hokage would send the scroll and not her. His eyes wandered up to look at his little brother and mow understood why Gaara was acting to weird this morning. His heart ached, he knew there was some feelings for Katsura that Gaara held but now he will never get a chance to act on it, he probably will never try to love again. This confirmed that he can never love any one cause they will die even if he is not the direct cause.

Minagi walked in holding a stack of papers that were obviously too heavy for her. Her glasses slid down her nose just the slightest when she looked at the two solum brothers in the office. "Geez, what's wrong with you guys"

Kankuro was the one to turn to face the Secretary. "Kat… I mean, Katsura has passed away."

A loud thud of papers hit the ground scattering the documents all over the floor at the secretary's feet. She looked at Kankuro with a horrified and saddened expression, tears started filling up her in her eyes, she looked between the two boys and saw that the puppeteer was hanging his head and looked very sad while Gaara was silently staring out the window. Minagi walked over to the older of the two and hugged onto him while placing his head on her shoulder. The boy in face paint didn't seem to mind and remained there.

XXXXX

Temari was completely fed up with everything, she swore that the next person who even looked at her odd was going to end up with a few broken bones. She had spent her entire morning babysitting a team of Genin on a D rank mission because their sensei was injured. Now normally she didn't have too much of a problem with kids but this just so happened to be a team troublemakers who lived off of creating mayhem and chaos. Temari smirked, of course now they should behave unless they want to meet the backside of her fan… again.

Thanks to the bunch of kids she now had a headache the size of the desert the surrounded the village. She dismissed them after the mission and the behavioral lesson with her fan, all she had to do now was give her report to her brother and be on her way. She stormed into the office and almost literally saw the dark cloud hanging over the group that was in there. Her scowl faded to concern when she saw that the secretary was in tears while her bothers had an aura of misery surrounding them, Gaara more so then Kankuro. The middle sibling locked eyes with his sister and handed over the scroll.

"She's gone" He whispered, he really would miss her. "Katsura is gone"

Temari's eyes went wide and looked over to her younger brother who was staring out the window. Call it woman's intuition or what ever but she would tell just by looking at the back of his head that he was mourning but he didn't really know how he should express it. For the first time in his life he found someone he cares for and now she is gone forever, just like their mom, just like Yashamaru. She unrolled the scroll and looked to see what Tsunade-sama said exactly. Her eyes narrowed at the paper and then looked up at her brothers. "All you of are idiots!" She yelled making everyone look at her, including Gaara.

"Temari!" Kankuro yelled at his sister. "He just lost someone important to him, you don't need to yell at him."

"Baka!" She yelled back at him glaring the signature Sabuku glare that would scare anybody but Kankuro was already used to it. "Did you even read the scroll?"

Kankuro looked at her confused. "No, but what's the point we know she's dead, it was sent by the Hokage."

"Gaara, did you read the scroll?" Her turned to her silent brother and her turned his entire body to look at her. At length he spoke.

"No, I couldn't…" He trailed off but the message was loud and clear, he didn't want to read it cause then it would be proof that her was really gone forever. The blonde sighed.

"Shall I read it then?"

'_Dear Kazekage-sama, _

_This scroll is to inform you about the success of the sealing process regarding Gekkou Katsura. She told me of the arrangement of sending a letter if it was not successful but she did not account for all the possibilities of the process. The stress to her body was great and she fell unconscious, though she is expected to make a full recovery in a few days. Since she can not send you a letter in person I am sending one on her behalf._

_Sighed, _

_Godaime Hokage, Tsunade'_

The wind user looked at her brothers who wore a face of shock. The secretary was smiling brightly and hugged onto the puppet master tighter even though he was a bit confused as to why she still clung to him. When she looked at Gaara there was a glint in his eye to show his happiness. Temari swore she saw the corner of his mouth twitch up into an almost smile.

XXXXX

In the Konoha hospital a soft voice rang out down the halls from one particular room. The heavenly voice drifted down upon the ears of one particular girl who was laying with her eyes closed, breathing steady and heart beating at a constant rate.

(A/N Translation in parenthesis)

**Massugu na reeru ga iyade **

(I hate being forced on straight rails,)

**Yamikumo ni kakedashita**

(And I blindly broke into a run)

**Akirame wo ketsui ni kae te**

(Changing resignation into determination)

**Surihetta kakato hokoru**

(Taking pride on the calloused heels)

**Michi wa tsuzuku nishi e higashi e**

(The road continues to the west, to the east)

**Hi wa shi zundemo**

(Even if the sun sets)

A hand reached out to stroke the soft brown hair cascading down upon the pure white pillow as the voice continued its soft melody. The person who was sitting next to the bed who was singing shifted making her ANBU gear cling as it hit one another.

**Kirameku namida wa hoshi ni**

(to the stars my glittering tears went)

**Kaze ni nori sora wo kazaru**

(they ride the wind and adorn the sky)

**Tsukiakari kumo ni togiretemo**

(and if the moonlight is blocked out by the clouds)

**Boku wo terasu**

(They still shine on me)

The purple haired woman finished her song and looked out the window. She hoped that the girl in the hospital bed would wake up soon. She looked down at her only daughter and her eyes started to water, it seemed like only a short time ago Hayate was teaching her how to handle a sword and now…

Yugao wiped her eyes to clear her blurry vision. She leaned back in the chair and waited. The day faded into evening, the sky was streaked with a barrage of colors casting over the horizon. Soft eye lids started to flutter over pale cheeks that hadn't moved in a few days. Slowly the lids pulled up revealing soft brown eyes, they darted about the room for a seconds trying to place where the owner was at. A soft grunt was heard as the girl in the bed slowly sat up though her body was in a lot of pain. Once again she looked around the room and she saw a sleeping form next to her in the chair, purple hair falling over the face and cradling her shoulders. A cough escaped Katsura's mouth waking the older woman in the chair. She instantly jumped up and captured her daughter in a hug. Katsura hugged back but a little awkwardly, after all she was still a teenager and it was still weird to hug her mom.

Yugao stepped back and smiled that her daughter had finally woken up. It had only taken… "Mom?" Katsura spoke with a slightly parched throat but it was nothing she couldn't deal with.

"How long have I been out?"

"About three days" The ANBU member spoke.

"oh… Gaara!" Katsura shouted in realization, she needed to send the letter to him fast so he will know how it went. She scrambled to stand but her entire body was sore and ached making her lose her balance and fall face first onto the cold hospital floor. Oh how she hated hospitals.

"You have been unconscious for a while, do you really expect you can just get up right away?" Yugao said with a smirk at her daughter.

Katsura sat up and smiled sheepishly with a blush of embarrassment staining her cheeks slightly. She slowly got up, with help from the bed, and crawled back underneath the covers of her hospital bed. "I need to send a letter to Gaara!"

"No you need to rest" An third voice spoke, this one sounded very irritable. The fifth Hokage walked into the hospital room with her assistant and the pig trailing right behind her, apparently one of the nurses passing through the hallway saw that Katsura was up and informed the fifth. "And we need to discuss your punishment."

"Tsunade-sama after everything thats happened I don't think-" Yugao tried to protest but a sharp glare from the older blonde cut her off.

"You don't think what? That is not necessary for her to receive punishment for her actions?" The Kage of the Fire Country asked harshly. "Do you realize she disobeyed a direct order from me, ran off disobeying orders from the commanding ninja on the team and put not only Team Kakashi, Team Gai, and Suna in danger but Konoha as well!"

Yugao opened her mouth to try and figure out something to say but nothing came to mind. Katsura spoke up from her hospital bed, her head was hung in shame. "I will accept my punishment"

A small smirk formed on the Hokage's face, "You will come to my office later tonight and we will discuss this then." Tsunade and Shizune walked out of the office leaving the mother and daughter alone once again. After a while of comfortable silence while Katsura's thought on a certain man that she loves Yugao had to leave to go on patrol duty with ANBU. She left her daughter alone in the hospital room, Katsura got up shakily from her bed and started to gather her things from the room. There was no way she was going to stay in the hospital longer the necessary.

Just as she finished getting dressed in her usual clothes did she hear a long sigh of boredom come from behind her. "How did I know you were going to leave" She turned to see her friend shaking his head in annoyance. "Troublesome woman" Katsura smiled brightly at Shikamaru.

"What are you doing here? I figured you would have just talked to me after I left" She chuckled after knowing thats probably what he thought of doing first.

The lazy one just shrugged and walked over to the unoccupied bed and sat on it, he leaned back and placed his hands behind his head while one leg crossed the other propping it into the air. "I came to visit you" He said nonchalantly making Katsura wonder what his real purpose was. She grabbed her sword off the wall next to the bed and strapped it onto her back while raising an eyebrow at Shikamaru.

"Really? When have you ever just felt like visiting me?" She said sharply, it wasn't to show that he didn't care about his friend it was just to prove that she knew him well enough to tell when he was lying.

He sighed and sat up with only one leg up and his arm resting on his knee. "Why must you be so troublesome? I needed to talk to you about the process." Katsura looked at the ponytailed boy but he lowered his own eyes to the ground. "I messed up. The seal is weaker then before"

All of a sudden Shikamaru felt two arms wrap around his shoulders. "If it wasn't for you I would be dead right now so I am grateful" He could see a small smile cross the genius's face. "Thanks… Shika-kun!" There was a groan of irritation and the girl just chuckled as she let go of her friend.

"So what now?" He asked laying back down onto the bed while Katsura grabbed her Konoha headband and tied it back onto her head.

"What do you mean?" The brunette asked a bit confused.

"With you and Gaara" He deadpanned at her. "What do you plan on doing about your relationship?"

"I haven't really thought about that" She spoke quietly " I just assumed that it would all work out"

"Yes because dating someone you may only see once in a blue moon will always work out." He shook his head and sighed.

"I just need to think but I will figure something out"

XXXXX

"Come one Kakashi-san" The jounin stood reading his book trying to ignore the other man in front of him, after all Kakashi had to meet Naruto for training and he was already running 3 hours late like normal. "If we hang out together all the girls in town will flock to us."

"I don't really care" The silver haired man sighed in annoyance. "Hiro I don't even know what you are talking about"

"Come on woman love you" Hiro said obviously. "I think its the mask, you know it adds a sense of mystery," Kakashi just shook his head. "I bet you can just close you book and women will appear."

"I think thats a bit of an over exaggeration."

"Prove it" The purple and silver haired man said smugly. Just to shut up the other the copy nin closed "Icha Icha Tactics" it was then that a figure ran up to the two men.

"Kakashi-sensei, I have been looking for you forever" The pink haired Sakura ran up. Hiro smiled triumphantly while Kakashi looked both surprised and disturbed at the same time. Kakashi left with Sakura to find Naruto leaving the other jounin instructor alone with his thoughts.

'_hmm, I wonder' _Hiro slowly pulled out a piece of cloth from his ninja pouch and placed it over his own face making a makeshift mask of his own.

"Hiro-sensei" Katsura ran up to her teacher. "I need some advice from you"

"Seems to only work on students." He mumbled to himself as he took off the cloth. "Anyway why don't we go sit and talk alright"

XXXXX

"So I don't know what to do" Katsura admitted after telling her former teacher everything that happened " I love him but we may never see each other and I don't want to be a burden to him"

"Katsura you can never be a burden." Hiro tried telling her. "You are a wonderful girl, he should feel lucky to have you." That still didn't make the young leaf feel any better. "The way I see it there are two ways to approach the subject of love. There's the 'if you love them they them go' way and if you meet again then its meant to be. Or there is the 'work you ass of to make it work' I usually never go that way but then again I never found someone who I want to do that for… not yet at least." Katsura sat in silence mulling over her teachers word's. Even though he never had a steady relationship, he still knew what he was talking about.

"Arugatou, Hiro-sensei" Katsura jumped up from the bench they were sitting at. "I guess I just need some time to think."

"Hey Katsura, I'm happy that you found love" Hiro called to her with a small smile, it was the second time he had said that to one of his students. To this day Katsura never found out about Jubei being in love with her but maybe it was for the best, She would only be saddened by this knowledge. He waved and watched his former student walk off.

XXXXX

The young Chuunin trudged down the street to the Hokage tower, it was about the time when she had to show up to receive her punishment. She stopped just short of the winding stairs on the outside of the tower. The brunette sighed, if only she didn't disobey Tsunade-sama's first orders then she wouldn't have fallen ill and she wouldn't have had to stay in Suna. She sighed, _'Its not like I did anything to save Gaara anyways' _ That thought plagued her mind, she was only a burden the entire time of her stay in Suna. Now she was really unsure of what to do, the swordsman sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose and gave a long sigh. It was then that a mysterious masked ninja appeared right behind Katsura.

"I tried reasoning with the Hokage-sama but she has a punishment in mind already" The purple haired ANBU member said making the young girl jump slightly in surprise. She turned to look at a bear mask staring at her, right away she knew it was her mother Yugao. "What's wrong?"

"I was just thinking" Katsura answered her voice indicated her sorrow of the thoughts that have running through her mind. "If I didn't fall ill then I wouldn't have any problems, Maybe I'm not good enough for him."

The ANBU member removed her mask and looked down at her child who stared dejectedly at her own feet. Yugao looked at her only daughter, she had worked so hard in life though it seemed like everything had forsaken her. She was born with the illness, had no friends to turn to, her team was killed and now the one she loved had been in danger. And she feels like she could never help him. A small smirk appeared on the jounin's face. "Baka, you are really like your father." This of course confused her daughter but she listened anyway. "When your father first confessed to me I was a bit apprehensive. I didn't full know about his illness but I was convinced that he was weak because of it so naturally I rejected him" She looked down recalling the incident though she gazed as if looking into the past. She smiled a little remembering that day and how sad Hayate looked but also how he still tried anyway, "There was a mission we both were assigned to as well as a few others, Turned out the enemy knew we were coming and set up an ambush."

"Well we had to split up and it was me, Hayate and Izumo, how he got separated from Kotetsu I'll never know but, one of the guys attacked me. Your father got so mad he fought with no hesitation even though the enemy was stronger then he was. I saw then that he was a strong man and a great shinobi. It was then I fell in love with him. And I know you will and already have done the same thing"

The swordsman stared teary eyed at her mother a large smile crossed her face. She ran up and hugged her mother, "Thank you I know exactly what to do." Katsura said and ran off up the stairs and into the hokage tower. Once she was let into the Hokage's office she stood facing the leader with a smile and new confidence.

"Gekkou Katsura are you prepared to accept your punishment" The blonde leader spoke in a serious tone glaring over her hands that were resting in front of her face since she elbows were propped on the desk. Katsura nodded not caring what punishment was set up for her, she would serve it with no problem as long as she could send some letters to Gaara. "Good" an evil smirk appeared on the hime's face.

XXXXX

**This chapter was awful! And once again I am sorry for the late update for some reason the more time I have the less I do… I need to work on that. And to tell you the results from the unofficial poll Yes there will be a sequel to this story. Oh, the next chapter will be the last one for this story which makes me sad cause I liked this story but the sequel should be starting soon after. I will post a chapter on this one to let you know when I start it. **

**And for those who can't figure it out "Kirameku Namida Wa Hoshi Ni" which is the title is also the first line of the song and it translates to "To the stars my glittering tears went" I ran out of title idea's leave me alone… also I never mentioned last time that the song is the second opening to the anime "Fate/Stay Night" which is a great series.**

**Next Time: What is the punishment and how will this story end?**

**Please Review, Arugatou**


	21. A New Beginning

Thank you Jokermask, avatar-chik, Gaara-frenzy, and Vampire-f4i for the reviews

Disclaimer: I've already said it 20 times...

"Talking"

'_Thinking'_

**The Devil in the Pale Moonlight**

Chapter 21: A New Beginning

Papers cluttered the desk piling high over the head of the person sitting on the chair scribbling frantically to get as much done as humanly possible. Another entered the room with a pile of papers in her hands, her glasses sipped a bit down the bridge of her nose and her hair was messed up in the bun she wore. She placed the pile at the edge of the desk and gave a long sigh resting her arm on top of the pile.

"Here's the latest work you requested Kazekage-sama." Minagi informed but the other just gave a small nod of the head. The secretary looked out of the corner of her eye to see what he was working on, instead she saw a scroll laying across the desk. She smirked at seeing the signature. "So is that the latest letter from your little girlfriend?" Gaara gave no reply but his pen paused for a second. "Well I hope she will be able to visit you soon, I'll be back later to collect the finished reports"

Once the secretary left the room Gaara stopped his paperwork and his eyes fell over the scroll laying on his desk, it was in fact from Katsura. There wasn't anything special about the letter, it was just something she sent to keep in touch. The thing is he received it a few days ago but has yet to respond. In his entire life he never once got anything from anyone so when he finally did he had no clue what to do or say. He turned his chair to face the window outside, he looked to the blue sky but remained silent. It had been a while since he got the scroll saying that Katsura had recovered shortly after that he received this scroll that lay on his desk.

He watched the people outside his office going about their normal lives. Gaara never really had a normal life and now that he may have found something that makes him feel like a normal person he may never get to see her again for a long time. A long sigh escaped the red heads lips. The door opened quickly and suddenly a puppet ninja burst into the room.

"Gaara you need to stop working so much" His older brother spoke but was ignored by the Kazekage. "You have worked nonstop since you came back and me and Temari are worried" He said cutting right to the chase. Gaara turned around in his chair to face his concerned brother. His face was blank but Kankuro could tell that there was something else, perhaps thankfulness. "Maybe you need a vacation… I could always watch over things for you"

"Maybe you are right… I could visit Konoha" Gaara spoke while his mind was on something, or someone else.

Panic flashed over the other boys face "I was thinking you just take a few days off not actually leave the village… I mean the Akatsuki is still out there and-"

Gaara raised his hand to cut off the other. "They got what they wanted from me, I am of no importance to them"

The master of puppets crossed his arms and pouted "Still…" Gaara almost chuckled at this sight. Kankuro dropped his arms. "You can't really travel, I mean you have barely gotten any rest" That part was true. Ever since the demon was extracted from Gaara's body he can sleep and his body demands it too but he really hated the feeling of being vulnerable for 6 to 8 hours so he only got the minimum amount that he needed and still will be able to function normally.

It was at that point that the secretary reentered the room. Minagi held a scroll in her hand as she walked to the front of Gaara's desk, out of no where she tripped over nothing and started falling to the floor, Kankuro moved and caught her with cat like reflexes. He stood her up yet she refused to look him in the eye. A blush of embarrassment crossed her face. "Arugatou, Kankuro"

"No problem, you should be more careful" He smiled and gave a little wink, her eyes widened slightly before she cleared her throat and walked over to Gaara.

"Kazekage-sama we just received a scroll from Konoha." Minagi said in an even tone. Gaara's eyes widened thinking the worst with the Akatsuki and Naruto. "Its nothing bad, Its says that to improve relations between the two villages the Village elders from Suna has signed an agreement with the Hokage."

"What is this agreement and why was I not informed" Gaara was a little tick off that the elders would go behind his back and sign something even though it was from Konoha.

"It seems to be an ambassador type program, they send one of their ninjas over here to complete mission as a show of good faith, though they will still be a ninja of Konoha and can be called back at anytime."

"What do we have to do in return?" Gaara asked.

The secretary looked over the paper before looking up at the Kazekage. "It says that since this is a trial program we don't need to do anything in return and that the person in the project is here and I quote, 'from their own stupidity and has to return a favor'…" Minagi smiled before continuing. "Shall I send them in?" Gaara nodded and returned to his paperwork, it was more then likely some random ninja that could afford to get rid of. He could feel the other person's chakra enter the room and stand in front of the desk.

Gaara raised his head to see who it was that was sent to stay and work in Suna. She eyes trailed over black boots and up black fishnets, his eyes moved up and saw a black skirt and shirt, his heart sped up faster upon seeing brown hair shaping the face of the smiling girl whom he had developed feelings for. There stood Katsura in his office smiling brightly as if she didn't have a care in the world. The red head was frozen in place, he was not expecting to see her so soon and now she was going to live in Suna!

"I'm here for any mission you wish to give me, Kazekage-sama" She said snapping the red head out of his trance.

"Just Gaara" Was all he managed to say. Her smile widened if it was at all possible. The swordsman walked around to the other side of the desk just as Gaara stood up and she latched onto him as quickly as possible. She had her arms around his neck, hesitantly Gaara placed his own hands around her waist and hugged back. Minagi smiled at the scene, it was obvious they both cared for each other a lot. She turned to look at the make up boy and locked eyes with him, she motioned with her head for them to leave the room and they did so.

Katsura moved away slightly so she could look Gaara in the eyes, she smiled and gently placed her lips onto Gaara's. He kissed her back with full force, glad that he will always have her now.

XXXXX

"Thats so adorable!" Minagi exclaimed as she left the room, closing the door behind her.

"No thats troublesome" An unknown voice said and both secretary and Jounin looked to see a bored looking Shikamaru sitting on one of the chair.

"What are you doing here?" The girl asked as she pushed up her glasses.

"I was sent to escort that troublesome woman" The leaf ninja explained in a drawl.

"Right" Kankuro said slyly. "Your just here to see my sister" Shikamaru shot him half deadpan half annoyed look.

"Why are you talking about me?" A female voice spoke from behind the lazy ninja which would have made anyone jump except for Shikamaru. The blonde smirked at seeing the leaf nin. "Your here which must mean Katsura is here as well."

"Wait you were expecting her?" The assistant to the Kazekage asked the eldest Sabuku.

"Of course, When Tsunade-sama came up with this idea it was Baki and me who convinced the council that this was a good idea." Temari said proudly.

XXXXX

Katsura snuggled against Gaara's chest as he had his arms draped around her back contently. There was just something about her that made him feel at peace while he was with this girl.

It was then that Gaara thought of the suggestion Kankuro had mentioned earlier. The sand ninja carefully untangled his arms from around the leaf and walked over to the corner of his office where his gourd rested and slid off his Kazekage robes dropping them on the floor. He picked up it gourd and strapped it onto his back in one deft movement. The red head walked over to the door and waited for Katsura to follow, instantly she was by his side when he slid the door open to see the rest of the group talking.

It seemed that Temari was yelling at Shikamaru while he was trying to ignore her but it didn't look as if it was working since he was still facing her and mumbling something that sounded like 'troublesome' Katsura rolled her eyes and looked over at Kankuro who had the same facial expression. An evil smirk crossed the cat looking ninja's face and Katsura nodded. The jounin walked over to the arguing couple and stretched his arms. "Oops." He said as his hand 'accidently' pushing the lazy boy into the wind mistress. The ponytailed boy fell onto Temari knocking her over onto the floor… it was then that he realized that his face was very close to the blonde's and they were actually kissing. Shikamaru jumped up faster then what should have been possible for him, his cheeks took on the slightest pink hue, Temari on the other hand lay on the floor with her mouth agape, speechless. She finally woke out of her trance and the bloodlust radiated off her. She stood with her fan and locked on her target which was her little brother. With the fan in the blonde's fan she gave a growl.

"Kankuro you are dead" The fan swung like a bat and the puppet ninja ducked.

"What I helped" He chuckled childishly. But ran for it as soon as the he saw a demonic appearance take over his sister, or at least he could have sworn he saw it. The two sand siblings were gone quicker then Lee without his weights.

"What a pain…" The lazy one sighed and scratched the back of his neck he turned to Katsura. "I have to be going now" The brunette nodded and let her friend leave to head back to Konoha since he had an mission he had to complete upon his return.

Gaara started walking once more way from his office. "I am taking the day off, Kankuro and Temari are in charge." Minagi nodded her head while Katsura jogged to catch up. The brunette smiled at him once more before they both left.

XXXXX

The two walked through the village on the way to the Sabuku manor. They passed through the busy bizarre filled with people running around. There were a few bows and greeting toward the Kazekage, Katsura smiled noticing the change in attitude from her last time walking the streets with Gaara. Her eye caught a glint in the sunlight and saw the small cart that was selling some of the most beautiful jewelry she had seen. She wandered over to the cart to gaze at the silver crescent moon necklace that first saw when she arrived a few weeks ago.

"I see you have returned, perhaps to purchase that necklace." The old man who owned the business said while Katsura traced her finger over it.

"No I still don't have enough, maybe you can put it on hold for me until I can buy it." She asked hopefully with a smile.

"I can not do that… but I could dissuade people from buying it" The sword master smiled at the kindness of the old man.

"I will purchase it," An almost emotionless voice spoke from behind the brunette. She turned to see Gaara making eye contact with the shop keeper. He nodded once again, this time there was no fear in the old man unlike last time they met. He reached over and took the necklace off the holder and went to put it in a box, but Gaara just handed him the money and left his hand outstretched indicating that there was no need for a box, the old man gently placed the silver necklace in his hand. The Kazekage turned to the girl next to him and gently put it on her neck which surprised her more then anything. He took a step back and she ran her hand over the cool silver of the moon with a small smile. She turned to the Kazekage and smiled bigger while she quickly moved to hug him. Still so unused to physical contact the red head stiffened a bit but held her as well. The old man who owned the small car smiled at the scene slightly unbelieving that Sabuku no Gaara actually showed compassion and in public as well. The happy couple eventually moved on and made it through the busy marketplace though there was still some whispering and for some odd reason Katsura found herself sneezing quite often.

XXXXX

Katsura stood in front of the kazekage Kazekage manor thinking over how much her life had changed in a short amount of time. Gaara and she had just arrived at his house after he took the day off. Ever since he bought the necklace the two had been walking in silence though it was not completely unwelcome. They walked into the house together but thats when something dawned on the swordmaster.

"Gaara shouldn't I find my own place?" Katsura asked to the red head.

"What so you mean?" Gaara asked unfazed by the question. "You are to stay here" He finished looking her in the eye.

"But wouldn't that be… umm…" A slight blush took over her face. "Wouldn't that be inappropriate" She said not meeting the aqua eyes that were looking onto her.

"I do not understand" Gaara said bluntly, "I want you to stay here so I can protect you"

A smile spread across the kunochi's face as she ran up and hugged the kage it was still awkward for him to have human contact yet this girl payed to attention and hugged him until he slowly wrapped his own around her. She backed up and kissed his nose with a small smile. It was then when she yawned uncontrollably, neither of them noticed that the day passed by quickly and it was about time for bed especially since Katsura was to start her official work as a ninja of Suna.

Katsura followed Gaara upstairs she had all intentions of staying in the extra room again but she caught a glimpse of Gaara's room and walked in leaving a confused sand user behind in the hallway. She looked around the room, there was a large bed with deep red sheets covering it. The desk in the corner was covered with paperwork and the entire room was fairly dark. The tattooed boy watched in amusement at his precious person look all around his room, she turned and smiled at Gaara again then sat on the edge of the bed motioning for the other to join her. Gaara started to move when Katsura leaned back then moved so her head was laying on one of the pillows on the bed. She looked up at Gaara who stood right above her.

"Why do you want me here?" She asked her voice hushed.

"I wish to protect you" He crawled into the bed as well and held onto the brunette around her waist with her head leaning on his upper chest. "I wasn't able to before but now I will" He said as Katsura yawned closing her eyes and letting the rhythmic breathing of Gaara slowly put her to sleep. The Kazekage let his hand caress her arm as he inhaled her scent and his own eyelids closed over green eyes and for the first time in his life Sabuku no Gaara fell into a peaceful sleep while holding onto his own precious person.

XXXXX

**Sorry for the late update… I have no excuse I was just having trouble but I hoped you enjoyed this story. The sequel will be up probably after I move out of my house in about 3 weeks but I will try to get it up sooner also I will put up a notice on this story when it is up. I want to thank everyone who read or reviewed on my story without you I would have given up a long time ago. I truly thank all of you. **

**Please Review, Arugatou**


	22. Announcement!

**Thank you to K92littlered, angelpride92, Spiffehtastic, Dragonfly51, Fallen Angel3579, Gaara-frenzy, fanny-kun, Jokermask, MyDyingDaysBlackRose, XxLuvGaaraxX, and NekoDoodle for the review in the last chapter. Also thanks to those put this story on alerts and favorites. **

**I started the sequel for this story called "Shadow on the Moon" you all are still interested you can do check it out and leave a review. **

**Also I wrote the following story for a contest entry of a comparison of a Naruto character and my OC so I mad it about Kat and Gaara if you wish think of this as a bonus chapter so enjoy, no review necessary for this story. **

**Disclaimer: NO OWN**

**Two Sides of the Same Coin**

An over exuberant laughter filled the busy bazaar in the desert streets of Suna. Three women were standing in front of a house in this hot village, they were talking and gossiping as most older women do during the lazy weekends. They were pinning up laundry and from their point they can look out over the busy streets.

"So just between us," One of the women leaned into the others who paused momentarily in their work, "Not only is she married but she has been seeing this ANBU agent almost every night" They three started a giggling fit over the drama that they knew. It hushed down when one of the women spotted a glimpse of red walking across the way. She pointed him out to the others.

"It's so good to see the Kazekage out and about and not just stuck in his office working." She smiled as she eyes followed the young teen walking by, this teen was none other then Sabuku no Gaara. "He sure does a lot for this village."

"Its the least he can do to make up for his past" The first one spoke shaking her head, it wasn't that she hated or didn't trust the red headed boy it was just a lot that the village had to forgive him for.

"Well you can't really blame him, you remember the way his father looked at him as a child, poor kid. And he never had a mother to top it off." The second one spoke again. It was then that a figure ran up to the boy they were watching. Everyone in the village knew of this girl, her name was Gekkou Katsura. She was a chuunin from Konoha now living in the Village Hidden in the Sand. Her appearance wasn't anything spectacular, she had brown hair and eyes and wore a black skirt and tank top with black fishnets on her legs that stopped at her knees and fishnet shirt under her top. She always wore the same black fingerless gloves and her Leaf forehead protector on her forehead, never was she seen without her sword strapped to her back.

"Looks like Gaara is not alone again" The third woman finally spoke up "I still don't know why the most eligible bachelor in Suna would choose a girl from Konoha" She spoke shaking her head.

"My daughter was crushed when they officially became a couple after his death" The first woman laughed making the others well, they would continue their gossip later.

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"Come on Gaara, we never get to go out, so walk faster." Katsura pleaded with the rather stoic ninja who looked really bored. She just ran up to him and latched onto her arm smiling up at the taller of the two. Gaara gave a sigh and continued on his walk with with the brunette, he was beginning to see why Shikamaru constantly called her, and Temari, troublesome.

They continued through the streets with people hushing every now and again indicating what they were just talking about, Katsura tried to ignore it as best as she could but was having some difficulty. She couldn't figure out how Gaara had grown accustom to the constant chatter about him or them. Walking past all the open shops Katsura was distracted by all the lovely things when Gaara looked over and saw the old playground where he used to sit as a child when no one wanted to be around him, luckily Katsura would never have to experience that. Against his will those memories started to invade in mind.

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_i"Hey come on and pass the ball already!" A young boy shouted to his team mate as they played soccer. The ball fly through the air when the young girl kicked it with all her might unfortunately it was too much and the black and white object landed softly on the nearby roof, a collective groan was heard coming from all the children._

_A young version of Gaara sat on the swing nearby watching the children have fun, he gripped his teddy bear as hard as he could for fear it too would run away from him. A small smile appeared on this child's face as he got up and ran to help them, his sand drifted up scooping the ball off the roof and bringing it down, he was only met with horrified faces and screams as the children ran for their lives. In anger the sand swirled around him and launched itself after the nearest child. At the last moment a young man stood in front taking the blow of sand that would have easily hurt the child. _

"_Gaara-sama please calm down" The young blonde said, this was Yashamaru, Gaara's uncle. In horror Gaara watched at the blood dripped down his arm and forehead, he caused this pain to the only person to ever show him kindness. _

"_I'm sorry, Yashamaru" He hung his head in misery. _

_The young Gaara raced through the village that night after the talk about love with his beloved uncle. He gripped onto the brown bag with his life, this would make everything better. He run up to the front door and knocked as fast as humanly possible, when another child answered the door Gaara extended the bag as an offering of peace but the child sneered and slammed the door but not before yelling "Monster!" _

_The bag fell from his grip and a devastated Gaara turn to leave, his already broken heart shattered into pieces. _

"_Here I made this hoping we could be friends" A young brunette extended a colorful bracelet toward another young boy who stared wide eyed at the other. _

"_I don't want to be friends with someone who is always sick. I don't want to catch anything I mean it would only hold me back" The young boy said, his name was Jubei and he was a smug arrogant young boy but there was just something about him that Katsura wanted to be friends with. He turned a left a young Katsura standing in the school ground, tears welling up in her eyes but she refused to shed them… yet. She dropped the bracelet onto the ground and walked away. /i_

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"Hey Gaara look!" The swordsman woman shouted snapping Gaara from his thoughts. He turned to look at Katsura who stood in front of a large tank filled with many different koi fish, she happily looked at the fish with a large smile on her face. Gaara watched with amusement of the other she seemed so sweet and innocent whereas he was quite the opposite.

She stood up from her crouched position in front of the tank and smiled sweetly at Gaara. She grabbed his hand and drug the boy way from the booth and onto the next set up in this busy marketplace. They wondered and weaved through all the people when finally the idea of getting lunch came up and they found themselves at a nearby restaurant. Sitting down they placed their orders and silence befell the two. Normally Katsura would do anything to break any type of silence since she was so used to being around Lee or Naruto silence was never something she became found of, this time though she allowed it since she knew that Gaara was not the biggest talker in the world.

At the other end of the room was a young child with what seemed to be his parents, they were laughing, talking, and showing the obvious affection they had their child. Gaara watched silently, he never knew that kind of affection. There was only one person who could come close to have given him love but it was taken from him at the last moment, it created who he is. The memories resurfaced as he looked away from the happy family.

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_iA red headed child sat atop a lonely rooftop in the middle of the night looking over the desert. He was in pain only it was outwardly shown. A few hours ago he had tried to make amends with another kid whom he had hurt accidentally but was once again met with hate and disgust. The smallest sound echoed in the silent night into the ears of Sabuku no Gaara who was that child on the roof. Without any warning the sand shot up to protect him when a few weapons were headed this way. _

'_Why me?' He thought his anger slowly rising, 'why is it only me, to be feared and hated' In rage the young child thrust our his arm to let the sand react to his every whim, the sand swirled around and covered this man standing in front of the child, in one fatal blow the sand crunched but didn't fully kill this man. He was thrown down to the ground and didn't stir. The young red head walked over and torn all the mask of the man who tried to kill him. In shock he looked upon the face of his beloved uncle, Yashamaru. He heart ached and throbbed in agonizing pain when he saw the betrayal of this only precious person, he dropped to his knees and the tears flowed endlessly while he moved his hands to grip into his scalp pulling the hair form the roots. He let our an ear piercing scream that could only be made by a pain so great it would be equal to your soul being slowly ripped from your own body._

"_I was ordered to assassinate you Gaara-sama" Yashamaru spoke with gasping breath, his time was drawing near and he knew it. He saw Gaara's eye look up pleadingly with his own and knew what he was thinking. "I was ordered but I wouldn't have declined if I had the choice. I tried to love you but I always hated you for killing my beloved sister… Your mother gave you the name 'Gaara' , a demon that only loved himself. You were never loved" With one last effort he tugged open his vest to reveal several explosive tags stuck onto him self, this was his last mission and he knew it from the start. "So please, die"_

_The explosion was so great it could be heard from the other side of the village yet no one went out to explore the noise. Everyone knew of this mission and everyone wished for its success. After the dust and debris settled the only thing that remained on that roof was a shield of sand, when the sand fell the young Gaara was still kneeling, water streaming from his eyes in an endless cascade of tears from his fragmented heart. 'why… why is it me? I was never loved' he thought while his fingers dug into the sand around him, his blood was boiling. 'I can only love myself… yes I WILL only love myself. I can only live for me, I can only love me' He looked up at the empty space that once occupied his uncle's body. He dug harder into the sand trying to cause pain for himself. The sand swirled around in outrage at the betrayal of love and trust shown here. The sand shot up and flew through the air aimed at his own forehead, each grain slowly etched his skin creating a permanent marking in the shape of a kanji for love, he slowly stood letting the sand fall off his shoulders and back while the blood ran down his forehead and over his eye. For the first time in his life Gaara of the Desert knew physical pain, created by himself. He would be the last person to ever cause pain toward himself. _

" '_Gaara' I finally understand" He spoke menacingly to himself. _

'_I will be alone' These thoughts raced through his mind. 'I will always be alone, I understand. I won't love… I won't trust. They will hate me, they will fear me but they will strong__**NEVER**__ /strongunderstand me! I am Gaara… I am alone.'_

_The rain fell gently onto the grassy field in the Hidden Village of the Leaf. There was a lone figure standing dressed in all black. She allowed the rain to fall soaking through her clothes though she refused to move from the stone that was in front of the brunette. This young girl was Katsura at the age of 13, it was after the chuunin exams where she met her new friends of Lee and Naruto. Her team had finally become a team but it was stolen from her at such a young age, if only she hadn't gotten sick at that time before the mission then they wouldn't have died. She stood there and traced the names of her teammates on the memorial stone that so many other fallen shinobi's had managed to become part of it. She let the tears fall just this one time. She should have been there to help Gemma and Jubei, maybe then they wouldn't be gone form her life. They were her first and only friends. _

_The young girl collapsed to the ground shaking, her whole body wrecked with sobs as she grabbed onto herself as a way to comfort. It wasn't working, they were her teammates, her precious people, her friends and now they would no longer be there. She cried out in misery letting the tears mix with the rain._

"_You lied" Was all she could manage to speak to the stone "You said I could always cry on your shoulder Jubei… but who's shoulder to I cry on to mourn for you two?"_

_She was alone, she would always be alone. First her father died now her friends, she let the tears fall even more as she started to cough. 'I am alone, why is it always me. I have never done anything wrong' She questioned her self in thought. _

_Her eyes slowly opened as a realization came to mind. She would always hold her dearest teammates close to her heart but they started out hating her. Others may hate her now but she could change their minds. She stood up from the ground her knees covered with mud and grass, the tears started to slow but didn't cease, she traces the names of her fallen comrades once more. _

"_I am sorry. I have failed you" The tears almost renewed themselves but she forced them to stop at this point, "Gemma, Jubei. I may not know who did this or why but I will find them and I will kill them" She vowed to the stone hoping that they would hear it in the after life. _

'_I can not always be alone, though they will never be forgotten.' She thought as she wiped the water stains from her eyes promising herself to never let them fall again. She had to be strong, she couldn't show emotion. She took a deep breath and let the pain was past her, she would always have her friends in her heart so she could never be alone. She looked up to the sky just as it was clearing up and for the first time in months Katsura smiled and promised she always would./i_

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"Here you go Gaara-sama" The waitress spoke politely to the Kazekage who was zoned out as she placed a plate of sushi in front of him. The sand ninja finally looked up and nodded as she placed the other plate in front of Katsura and walked away. The swordsman looked concerned for the older boy and Gaara tried to ignore it hoping the matter would be forgotten.

"Gaara? Are you okay?" She asked worry evident in her voice. "You seem a bit off." She said, the pain of Gaara's past started to resurface and he looked down again with one hand gripping his heart with out his knowledge and the other rested on the table, she felt something touch his hand and he looked up quickly evidently surprised. He locked eyes with a softly smiling girl who cared for him more then he could comprehend. "I love you" She spoke and he visibly stiffened.

"I… I, I will always protect you" Gaara spoke with hesitance, he was still learning how to be a normal person and was easily confused about emotions so he still didn't know if he could speak about his feelings. Katsura smiled wider and leaned over to kiss his forehead since his head started to drop from defeat. Katsura sat back and broke her chopsticks to eat, Gaara did the same. He was still a long way off from showing the love and compassion that Katsura does on a daily basis. They were so different it was almost unreal.

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"Well you know how the saying goes" An older woman spoke to the others, she was the second woman in the gossiping group that watched Gaara and Katsura.

"No what's that?" the third one asked in curiosity while the first one continued working and listening.

"They are like two sides of the same coin" She spoke while the others gave a confused look. "They are so different but they are still part of the same coin"


End file.
